


Crash and Burn

by Izzoso



Category: Wild Kratts
Genre: Drug Use, I like seeing characters get hurt, M/M, The brothers have a very 'close' relationship if you get what I mean, Things Get Dark, This drug science is completely made up, Why do I always pick on Chris?, just go with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-01 03:04:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11477295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzoso/pseuds/Izzoso
Summary: Gourmand has switched careers and become a drug chemist, creating psychoactive drugs from animals. It's up to the brothers to stop him, save the animals, and themselves in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, I feel like I should warn you. First, I have no idea where this story is going, so buckle up. I just couldn't get the idea out of my head. Second, I know absolutely nothing about drugs (okay, maybe a tiny little bit), so ignore anything that doesn't make sense in the real world and go with the flow. I just want to make the brothers suffer, okay? Okay. Anyways, thanks for taking a look, and I hope you enjoy this story :)
> 
> Also, If for some reason you'd rather read the story with the brothers just being brothers (no krattcest), check it out on ff.net. I should warn you that it will be boring and poorly edited. Apparently you can't edit it after you post, and I was too lazy to delete and resubmit. Anyways, rambling! Enjoy!

The Wild Kratts had been in the Sonoran Desert for a few weeks now. The brothers were currently running a few last minute errands for the team before they headed out. They had already collected some more Tellurium crystals and were now on to collecting some samples for the Tortuga’s animal laboratory. 

The brothers decided to collect some samples of various poisons for their research and had already managed to get a vial of venom from the Gila monster. During the restocking of crystals, they also managed to grab a vial of rattlesnake venom as well. The Sonoran Desert has a reputation for venomous critters, and so far it hadn’t disappointed the brothers.

"Hey Martin, check it out!" Chris smiled, holding the head and body of a colourful snake. It had a jet black head with rings of red, black and white on its body. 

"An Arizona Coral Snake!" Martin ran over, excited. "I’m going to call him Ringo, because of his colourful rings!”

“Very original.” Chris laughed. 

“We already have some rattlesnake venom but we definitely need a sample of Ringo’s venom. Did you know the Arizona Coral Snake venom is two or three times more potent than that of most rattlesnakes?" Martin pointed out, as Ringo bared its fangs. 

"But their fangs are smaller, and they inject less venom." Chris added. 

"And there have never been any reported deaths due to their venom, which is pretty crazy since they have the second-strongest venom of any snake." Martin countered.

"As much as I enjoy our creature fact competition, this little guy is getting restless." Chris laughed, laying the body of the snake on the ground while still holding its head. "Let's get a sample and let him carry on."

"You realize I won that round by submission." Martin grinned and pulled a vial out of his pack, wrapping the opening with latex. Then he got the coral snake to bite down and gently stroked its cheeks to activate the venom glands. Once they had a good sample, they released Ringo back in to the wild, unharmed. 

The sun was now low in the sky and it was starting to cool off. The brothers sat down to a quick meal that Jimmy had packed for them, going over their supplies. They would probably depart from the desert the following day, so they wanted to make sure they had gotten everything before they left.

"Now we have the venom from 3 different creatures from the Sonoran Desert. Who knew there was such a variation of poisonous animals in one place?" Chris held the three vials up to the sky and admired the liquid. "You know what we should try to grab a sample of before we go? The Sonoran Desert toad."

"Also known as the Colorado River toad." Martin sat forward, smiling at his brother’s exasperated reaction. 

"Yeah, they're known for producing psychoactive toxins.” Chris continued as he packed away the supplies, and stood up. He held out his hand and helped his brother stand up as well.

"And don't forget that aside from the toxins, they can also produce a poison that may be potent enough to kill a grown dog!" Martin crossed his arms, daring his brother to try another fact. Chris shook his head and tried not to smile.

"Wow bro, you're in a competitive mood today.” Chris poked him in the chest. “Alright, let’s have a friendly competition. Let's see who can find the toad first?" 

“Alright, what does the winner get?”

“What? I don’t know, whatever they want? Bragging rights?”

“I think I like the ‘whatever they want’ option.” Martin closed the distance between them, placing his fingers under his brother’s chin, causing Chris to tilt his head up. When he realized Martin was staring at his mouth, he blushed. His brother leaned in close and whispered in his ear: “I think I’m really going to enjoy my reward.”

Chris pulled away and took a shuddering breath to clear his mind. He realized that Martin was just trying to distract him, but he also didn’t doubt what he said. Martin winked and grinned again before he turned away to gather his stuff.

“Alright, we have a few hours before sunset. First one to find one and collect a sample wins.” He said, passing Chris a couple empty vials. “Good luck, and may the best brother win!”

-

The two brothers decided to walk in opposite directions. Chris started to walk towards lower land, in hopes that he could find a water source. After an hour he had found a small stream, and walked along the shoreline, head down looking for any signs of toad activity. What exactly toad activity was, he wasn’t sure, but was positive he’d know when he saw it.

He reached a section where the stream seemed to flatten out, almost like a floodplain. He could even hear the trilling and croaking of frogs in the distance. Now he was really excited! Martin was going to eat his words. In fact, Chris was going to turn the tables on him and demand-

He was caught off guard by the sight of an old beat-up trailer sitting on the edge of a bank. Chris had no idea how it had got there as he was already in the middle of nowhere. He had a weird feeling about it being there. As he crept forward, the door banged open and someone stepped outside. 

"Gourmand..." Chris sighed.

Chris' hunch was correct and the toads were down here... Unfortunately, gourmand was currently plucking them up and putting them in a bucket. How on Earth did the villains always seem to be going after the same animals they were after? And he wasn't going to eat the toads, was he? It would kill him. 

Chris had to stop him. Once Gourmand returned to the trailer, he crept forward and peered inside the window. The camper had been completely gutted and turned in to a travelling kitchen... or maybe a lab? There were beakers and flasks, tubes with dripping liquids, and steaming vats sitting over a range. This was different than what he was expecting and very alarming. Psychoactive toads and a chemistry lab? This didn’t look good.

Suddenly gourmands grinning face appeared in the window, looking out at him. 

"Ah, crap." Chris groaned. He backed away, fumbling with his creature pod as the door to the trailer banged open. 

"Martin! Shit, come in bro!" He tried before gourmand descended. It was too late. He shoved Chris up against the trailer and grabbed the creature pod from his hand. He crushed it in his massive hand before throwing it over his shoulder. 

"My little Green Grape, you don't know how glad I am to see you here." He leaned in close and smiled.

"Oh, really?" Chris squirmed under his hold. “Because, uh, I was just leaving.”

"No, I don’t think you were. You see, I've changed careers slightly. After you and your brother continually thwarted my plans to become a world famous chef, I decided to go where the real money is." He released Chris, pointing to the trailer door. “Why don’t you come inside and take a look?”

Chris debated whether to make a run for it, but he knew he would be abandoning the toads to the disgraced chef. At this point he was really hoping he had lost the bet between him and Martin, and maybe his brother was looking for him. Gourmand dragged Chris inside, threw him in to a chair and tied him down. He struggled but there was no give to the ropes. 

"You see, I discovered these toads secreted a psychoactive chemical that makes people hallucinate. I thought about how I might be able to harvest these chemicals and sell them as a new drug. I could make enough money to buy my own restaurant, become world famous again!” Gourmand explained, as he busied himself at one of the dripping flasks. “I used my chef skills and created a recipe for a new drug I think people are really going to enjoy."

"You’re making drugs? Not only is that illegal, but you could kill someone! And these toads should be living free and in the wild, not used as ingredients!" Chris growled. 

"You're right, I haven't perfected the formula yet. I would hate to kill my potential customers and stop my cash flow. That's where you come in." Gourmand replied, turning around. One hand held a syringe, and the other was fitting a brand new needle on the tip.

"What are you talking about?" Chris felt the blood drain from his face. 

"I can’t just let you go, after you’ve seen everything. You’d ruin my plans before they even started. Besides, I need a guinea pig and you'll be perfect.” He smirked as he knelt down and tied a wrap around Chris’ upper arm.

“Stop, Gourmand! You can’t do this!” Chris started to panic. Gourmand returned to the counter before turning back with a syringe of slightly yellow liquid. Chris strained at the bindings, but he could only helplessly watch as the needle glided in to his arm, and the syringe was slowly emptied. 

It burned as it threaded its way through his veins. Once it hit his chest his heart rate shot up, and he started to feel hot and sick.

“How do you feel?” Gourmand questioned. Chris clenched his eyes, and shook his head. Sweat started to bead on his forehead and the pain was getting increasingly intense, like a scalding burn spreading through his body.

“You poisoned me, you idiot!” He hissed. Gourmand seemed to watch him in contemplation, nodded, and then turned away to tinker with his recipe. That’s when Chris saw the first snake. It was an Arizona Coral Snake, just sitting on the floor of the trailer. He heard a hiss beside him, and a glance to his side showed another snake. Suddenly there were snakes everywhere. “Oh god, snakes. Snakes!”

Gourmand ignored him. Chris started to panic until he remembered what his brother had said: ‘there have never been any reported deaths due to their venom’. He was going to be okay. In fact, he was pretty sure one of the coral snakes had blue rings instead of red. Martin was here! He was going to save him!

The other snakes noticed Martins presence as well. They were angry, they warned him off, bared their fangs. Martin was almost to Chris’ chair when one of the coral snakes lashed out and bit Martin. Others joined in, until the blue snake had disappeared under a writhing mass of red banded snakes.

“No! Noooooo!” Chris thrashed in his chair. 

“Will you shut up, you dumbass?” Gourmand slapped him across the face. “I can’t work with all of your screaming. You’re hallucinating!”

He was hallucinating? He clenched his eyes closed, trying to pull himself out of whatever state the drugs had put him in. He couldn’t calm his racing heart and his breathing was harsh, but when he opened his eyes he had at least managed to will the snakes away. Unfortunately his brother’s dead body was laying at his feet, and now the walls were starting to melt.

“This isn’t real… this isn’t real…” Chris told himself over and over. He shook his head but he couldn’t make Martin disappear. His lifeless eyes were staring up at him, as though blaming him for his death. “Ugggghhhhh!”

Gourmand finally snapped and turned around, thumping Chris behind the head with a flask. The last thing he saw before he passed out was his dead brother, sinking through the melting floor of the trailer.


	2. Chapter 2

Martin had found himself in a stand of scrubby trees, surrounding a small watering hole. He laughed to himself as he milked the toxin from a Colorado River toad into a small vial. These toads were rare, but of course he was able to find one quick and easy. He had a special brand of luck that came with being happy-go-lucky in life, which had caused him to walk directly face to face with the very toad they were looking for.

He imagined his brother, over-thinking and making plan after plan. He smiled, but to be honest, the two of them made an amazing pair for that very reason. When one brother’s method didn’t work, the others usually did. They balanced each other out. In this case, the balance was tipping in his favour.

He corked the vial and pulled out his creature pod, ready to gloat. As he waited for his brother to pick up, he imagined all the things he could make his brother do for him. 

Suddenly there was a rustling in the underbrush, startling Martin and causing him to drop his creature pod. A large buck jumped out in to the clearing and ran past him in to the water. He held a hand over his racing heart and laughed. On further inspection, it was a mule deer, and for it to jump in to the water meant that it was trying to escape something. He looked back in the direction the deer came from, just in time to come face to face with a Zachbot. 

“Ugh, a Zachbot?” Martin complained. The robot tried to dart around him, but he picked up a fallen branch and swung at its head. The Zachbot lost its head, short-circuited and instantly fell apart. “Thank goodness Zach hasn’t bothered to properly build these things.”

“Hey! It’s not that they’re improperly built, I just built them cheap to make more.” Zach appeared through the bushes on his floating podium ship. Behind him stood 5 more Zachbots.

"Zach, what on earth do you need mule deer for?" Martin questioned. "What ridiculous invention have you come up with this time?"

"They're going to be used as their namesake, Blue-boy. That's all you get to know, now out of my way!" Martin knew he would be no match against five Zachbots but maybe he'd have more luck as a mule deer. He thanked the gods that Aviva installed a memory chip in the suits as he transformed in to a mule deer without a creature power disk. As the first robot reached him, he stood on his front legs and kicked with his hind legs. The Zachbot shattered into parts.

The mule deer seemed to gain courage with another deer in the fray and joined in. The two of them fought off the Zachbots with ease, thanks to their forked antlers and strong kicks. Martin reared up, laughing. “Give it up, Zach!”

“You Wild Rats are so annoying!” Zach growled as he clenched the railing of his ship. He pulled out a remote from his pocket and pressed a big red button. Out of the brush came a small herd of mule deer, each with a helmet wrapped securely around the antlers, and over their head and eyes. “You can easily destroy my Zachbots, but are you willing to fight your precious creatures?”

“No fair, Zach. You won’t get away with this!” Martin backed away as the deer approached. The mule deer looked between the blue deer and the advancing herd, unsure of what to do. Martin cried out as a Zackbot jumped out and capitalized on the deer’s confusion, slamming a helmet over its head.

“It looks like you lose.” Zach grinned, resting his elbows on the railing and leaning forward. “Tell me, where is Green Guy?”

Martin kept his mouth closed. He didn’t imagine this was going to go well for himself. He didn’t want Zach to move on to Chris after this. Instead he shifted his hooves and grounded himself.

“No? Oh well, I hoped your brother would be here so I could finish you both off at the same time, but I suppose this is good enough. Get him!” Zach yelled, sending his controlled deer forward.

Martin met one head on, clashing antlers. He hated to fight these ‘helpless’ animals, but he had no choice. It was him or them at this point. He shoved the deer away, only to be blindsided by another. He scrambled to regain his footing as he fell sideways. Once Martin was back on his feet, another deer charged and locked antlers with him.

The creature power suits were great for changing the physical body in to another animal, but it didn’t lend the stamina he needed at the moment. His adrenaline was starting to wear off, and he could feel his muscles straining to keep up. The mule deer easily threw him to the ground. He scrambled to stand but was kicked back down by a pair of hooves.

One of the deer rammed him in the side with its antlers, but luckily the blunt points didn’t break his tough hide. He did his best to curl in on himself, worried he was about to be trampled to death, when Zach paused the fight.

“Sorry, I need to take this call and I’d hate to miss the finale.” He smiled as he put his phone up to his ear. Martin stared up at the looming deer. One was poised to drop kick him, while another was ready to ram him again. He did his best to scramble back, but he fell back in agony as one of his legs gave way beneath him. Thanks to the adrenaline he hadn’t even noticed when it happened but it looked like he had broken his leg.

Zach was busy arguing with someone on the phone, so Martin deactivated his suit. He knew he had a better defence as a mule deer, but he would be quicker and more agile as a human. This was the time to escape, not stand his ground.

Zach finished the call and turned back to the now human Martin. “You’re lucky, I have to cut this short. I’m late for a meeting.” He called back the deer and the remaining Zachbots. “The next time you or your brother get in my way there won’t be a phone call to save you.”

Martin was left laying in the dirt, breathing heavy. After a bit of struggling, he managed to stand but found he couldn’t put much weight on his leg. It wasn’t broken after all but it was possibly fractured. His ribs were pretty sore and a headache was starting up, but otherwise he had fared better than he had expected. Whatever Zach was up to, Martin wouldn’t be able to stop him on his own. When he tried to find his creature pod, however, it was nowhere to be seen. He wouldn't be able to call for help.

He sighed, dreading the walk back to the Tortuga. He was at least thankful that this all went down next to some trees. Using his wilderness first aid, he made a quick splint from some branches and found a suitable walking stick to help ease the pressure on his leg. 

As he hobbled back to the Tortuga, he realised the tracks from Zach’s retreating herd were going in the same direction. He followed them back to where he and Chris had caught the coral snake and started the silly competiton. When he realised the tracks continued in the very same direction Chris had gone, he felt panic set in.

The Tortuga was still about an hour’s walk away, and at the rate he was moving it would take even longer. He had no idea how far Chris had gone, but he knew that if Zach crossed paths with his brother, it would be too good of an opportunity to pass up, meeting or not. Chris would meet the same fate, or worse.

Ignoring the pain in his leg, he went after Zach and his brother, hoping that Chris wouldn’t run across Zach and his mind controlled herd.

-

When he woke up again, Chris had a splitting headache. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, but it was now dark outside. Had Martin started looking for him yet? He shuddered, remembering the sight of his dead brother in his hallucination. It had felt so real at the time.

He had to escape; to find and warn the team. As he pulled at the ropes, he found he had no energy. His body was still hot and drenched in sweat. At least his heart rate was down. In fact, it was way down. It felt sluggish as it beat slowly.

"Oh good, you're awake. Ready for round 2?" Gourmand asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"No... please. No more." Chris begged, and wasn’t surprised when he was ignored. He had no energy to fight back as gourmand slid another needle in his arm.

This concoction burned, just like the one before. Chris closed his eyes against the sting, praying that the snakes wouldn’t be there when he opened them. He suddenly felt really lethargic and numb. He had no control over his body as he slumped in to the chair.  
“Alright, less pain this time?” Gourmand asked. Chris found he couldn’t reply, he couldn’t even get his body to react. His brain had turned into a pile of goo and all he could do was stare at the floor, dazed. 

-

Gourmand waved his hand in front of his face. “Catatonic? Hmm… Interesting.”

As he turned to work on his recipe there was a knock at the trailer door. Gourmand grabbed a chef’s knife and peered out the window.

“Idiot…” He mumbled as he opened the door for Zach. “I told you on the phone not to disturb me, so this better be important.”

“You told me to come see you once I figured out your problem, and here I am!” Zach stood proudly in front of a small herd of mule deer. Each one was wearing a device on their heads that were obviously controlling them. Their red eyes glowed eerily in the dark. “I present you with a herd of drug mules!”

“Drug mule deer, huh?” Gourmand rubbed his chin. “I appreciate the joke, but this is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had… What happens when the Wild Kratts get involved? They always do, you know.”

“I happen to have taken care of Blue Boy. Not permanently, mind you, but I’ve at least slowed him down. We just have to make sure that Green Guy doesn’t get in the way. The rest of the team will be useless without the brothers.”

“Huh. Maybe you’re right.” Gourmand grinned wide. He opened the door to the trailer fully so that Zach could see inside. “Without the two of them in our way, I’d dare say we’re in the clear!”

"Green Guy?? W-what happened to him?" Zach questioned when he saw the prone figure of Chris Kratt. He was still staring at the floor in a drug-induced haze. He had dark rings under his eyes, and looked awfully pale.

"He's my involuntary test subject for my experimental drug potency. We're on round two now." Gourmand grinned.

“Involuntary? What are you testing on him? He doesn’t look so good.” Zach wandered aloud, walking further in to the trailer. To be honest, he was feeling a little uneasy about the whole situation. He loved to watch the brothers suffer, but this seemed a little ‘next level’ for his tastes. Perhaps he was just going soft.

“It’s toad venom. The first dose I gave him had too much of the venom in it and this one had too much sedative in it.” Gourmand waved Zach off. “He’s just catatonic at the moment, but he’ll snap out of it.”

"His brother is going to be pissed when he finds out." Zach wrung his hands together.

“You said you slowed him down, right? It’s fine, I’ll be long gone by the time he figures out his brother is missing. I’ve corrected the recipe, and I think this will be right this time. I just have to wait for him to wake up to make sure.” 

“I think you’ll be waiting a while. He really looks out of it.” Zach commented. He nervously looked around the trailer, eyeing up all the chemistry equipment. It reminded him of a mad scientist set up. It was then he glanced at the window and saw a flash of sandy blond hair outside the window. “Aw, shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Gourmand asked, turning his full attention on Zach. The inventor squirmed, realising he was in a very dangerous place. Zach was positive that Martin had seen his brother by now and would be angry. Angrier than getting the shit kicked out of you by a herd of remote controlled deer. Gourmand was probably going to murder him in the trailer for leading a Wild Rat here, while outside the trailer, the older Kratt brother would probably ambush him. He wasn’t sure which scenario would be better at this point.

Zach took a deep breath, and quietly admitted: “Martin Kratt followed me here, and he’s outside right now.”

“So you didn’t slow him down at all then?” Gourmand hissed at him, as he casually reached for a pair of kitchen shears off the table. “What good are you, Zach, if you can’t manage a single task properly?”

“He’s by himself, he wouldn’t dare try to save his brother alone. Plus there are no large predators in the area he could borrow power from. He’s injured and weak, he can’t do anything…” Zach tried to placate the older man, putting his hands up. Since Gourmand had become a drug chemist he had gotten rather aggressive and short tempered… more so than usual.

“Oh no? You underestimate someone who is under the influence of rage and desperation. It’s a fun mix of emotions” Gourmand laughed. “What do you say we poke the bear?”

Zach was about to ask what he meant, when Gourmand pulled out another syringe. He filled it with a yellowish liquid and approached the younger brother.

“I was curious what would happen if I mixed the two recipes. This won’t be the true effect, but it will still be fun to see nonetheless.” He smirked as he inserted the needle in Chris’ arm and emptied the liquid.

It only took a few moments for the drug to effect the brunette and pull him out of his stupor. It wasn’t comfortable to watch though. Zach had to look away as Chris wailed in agony, straining against the ropes. His hands curled in to fists and his muscles were tense. He wasn’t fully conscious and seemed as though he was locked in some sort of nightmare only he could see.

As if on cue, there was a commotion outside the trailer. Martin Kratt was trying to claw his way in, probably blind with rage. Zach backed away, while Gourmand grinned and picked up his shears again.

“Let’s make sure the brothers never bother us again, starting with the blue one.” He advanced on the door. Zach swallowed and pulled the remote from his pocket. He nodded silently as Gourmand flung the door open and jumped out in to the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Martin followed the tracks down to a small watercourse, surrounded by rocky outcrops and small scraggly shrubs and cacti. He had seen no sign of Chris so far, which was a relief. Maybe his brother had headed back to the Tortuga already. In that case, Martin would scope out where Zach had herded the deer and then bring the information back to the team. 

It was dark by now, so Martin had to be extra careful of his footing, especially with his injury. He had already misstepped earlier and caused his injured leg to hyper-extend. He almost blacked out from the pain. Now he moved slower to avoid a repeat. He was falling behind, but he knew the herd was close judging by the fresh scat. 

As he rounded a bend, he discovered the herd standing near a trailer. The light inside was like a beacon in the dark of night. It seemed like a strange place for Zach to be hiding, but he wasn't going to question it. Now that he knew the location he could return to the Tortuga. As he turned to leave he saw a figure in the window that was definitely not Zach. What was Gourmand doing out here?

Martin had a sinking feeling. Were they going to eat the deer? Why bother controlling them then? He crept up to the trailer to try and figure out the plan. Little did he know his brother had been here hours ago, doing the exact same thing. 

He peered inside the window and saw Gourmand speaking with Zach. He seemed angry about something, while Zach looked nervous. He was paler than usual, and he wrung his hands together. As Martin followed Zach's line of sight he almost cried out. 

There was his brother, tied down to a chair, slumped over. He looked half dead. Chris' head hung, but he stared at the floor, completely out of it. What had they done to him?

Martin ducked down, feeling like he was going to be sick. He was scared for his brother but he also felt angry. His hands shook as he peered back inside. 

Gourmand looked livid now and he was holding a pair of kitchen shears at Zach menacingly. Zach held his hands up, speaking quickly to the chef. Whatever he said seemed to appease Gourmand, as the larger man turned and worked on something at the stove. Martin finally took a good look at the surroundings inside the trailer. He had watched enough episodes of breaking bad to know that this looked like a low budget meth lab. 

His fears were confirmed when Gourmand turned around with a syringe of some unknown drug and approached Chris. 

"No..." Martin mumbled. Gourmand wasn't going to... would he? He got his answer as he watched the needle enter his brother. "No!"

When Chris started screaming and thrashing Martin lost his mind. He knew better than to rush in, but he couldn't stop himself. The logical part of his mind shut off and he was all fire and adrenaline. He tried to pry open the door, but it was locked. He threw his shoulder against it a few times before it was flung open. 

Gourmand jumped out at him and threw a punch at him. He dodged and lunged at the chef. Gourmand laughed and maneuvered him into a choke hold, before bringing his other hand down, still holding the shears, and plunged them into Martins thigh. 

Martin cried out, but threw his head back in a head-butt. His skull cracked against Gourmands face, and he wondered if he had fractured his skull as well. It had the desired affect though, as he was immediately released. 

He stumbled forwards a bit and swung around to look at the older man, holding his bleeding nose. Martin clutched his thigh, breathing heavily. There was blood, but not a lot, so he was confident that no major arteries or veins were damaged. He didn’t know how much more damage his leg could take though. He needed to end this now, but he had brought nothing to a knife fight.

"What did you do to Chris!? What did you give him? Let him go now!" Martin tried and failed to keep the panic out of his voice. He could still hear Chris’ incoherent sobbing from the trailer and his heart raced with adrenaline. He didn't even notice the wound trickling blood down his leg. 

"Just him? What about the deer?" Gourmand swept his hand around them. It was then Martin noticed they were surrounded by the remote controlled deer. His leg gave a painful throb in memory. "Not a very good Biologist if you don't care about them."

Martin didn’t bother replying to the dig. He focused instead on the bigger threat; the mule deer. If Zach had them attack again, he didn’t think he would survive the outcome this time, especially without a creature power. Gourmand could be disarmed, but the deer had their weapons attached.

As he took a step backwards, the deer took a step forwards. Martin glanced past the herd and saw Zach by the trailer controlling them.

“So what’s the plan now, Blueberry? You failed to save your brother, you failed to save the deer, and now you’re in the process of failing to save yourself.” Gourmand walked up to Martin. He tried to step back, but found that he had been herded to the water’s edge. 

He regretted his brash personality in this moment. Chris would have remained cool headed and made a plan while Martin had seen red and acted impulsively. Now both he and Chris would suffer.

Gourmand got impatient. Without warning, he thrust the shears in to Martin’s shoulder and then kicked him backwards into the water. The watercourse was deeper than he expected and had a fast undercurrent. Martin’s first instinct was to swim, but the shears were still embedded his shoulder. The blades of the scissors further sliced through the muscle, causing him to gasp and take in water. Using his injured leg was no better. Sharp pain traveled from his leg and up his spine.

He managed to get above water as the watercourse became shallower, but there were more rapids now as the stream cascaded over submerged rocks and boulders. In the black of night he couldn’t see well enough to dodge the oncoming blockages. His body was thrown against something hard, which drove the shears deeper. The pain was so excruciating he blacked out and let the water pull him under.

-

“The bros have been gone all night and I haven’t heard from them or been able to reach them!” Aviva explained to the remaining team members sitting around the main table. The agreed upon 10:00 pm return time had come and gone, and as usual the brothers hadn’t returned. It wasn’t uncommon; they often got caught up in random creature adventures and came back much later than they said they would. But they had always checked-in periodically with the team. Now the sky was tinted orange with the coming sunrise and there was still no word.

“Have you tried to track their creature pods?” Koki asked, stirring her coffee. She and Jimmy had just woken up and were surprised to find that Aviva had been up all night.

“Yeah, but only Martin’s is showing up on the GPS, and it hasn’t moved all night.” She replied as she paced back and forth. “The only other tracking system we have in place tells us where and when the creature power suits are activated. The last time either of the bros activated a suit, it was last night around 9, in the same location that Martins creature pod is pinpointing.”

“We can definitely go check on them, but you know the brothers. They probably got caught up with some new creature that they decided to just camp the night.” Jimmy said as he stood up to head to the cockpit.  
“And they are pretty clumsy. I’m not at all surprised that one of the creature pods isn’t transmitting. It’s probably underwater, or at the bottom of a cliff.” Koki added.

“Maybe, but I don’t remember them bringing any camping gear…” Aviva finally sat down and propped her chin on her hand. “I just have a really bad feeling about this.”

They weren’t far from the GPS location, so it didn’t take long for Jimmy to move the Tortuga. When they walked outside, they found themselves in a small stand of trees surrounding a little watering hole. A big brown toad hopped on to Jimmy’s foot which made him scream. He then announced he would hold down the fort and returned to the Tortuga.

The girls walked around for a bit, but it didn’t take long for them to discover the tracks. It looked like there had been some sort of scuffle near the water and there were also the hoof prints of a herd passing through the area.

“Well, I don’t see either of the creature pods, but I’m willing to bet that the bros followed whatever creatures passed through here. That seems like something they would do.” Koki put her hands on her hips. 

“Aviva, Koki!” Jimmy called them on their creature pods. “One of the brothers just activated their creature power suit and we’ve got the location!”


	4. Chapter 4

Chris was woken up with a bottle of water dumped on him. He barely flinched. His whole body ached and just thinking was painful. He didn’t even bother pleading with Gourmand when he saw him approach with another needle.

“No fight left in you? Too bad, I like you when you’re feisty.” Gourmand spoke as he sat down and prepped Chris’ arm. “Let’s hope this is the right recipe, you don’t look like you could handle another dose.”

“Why are you covered in blood?” Chris managed to mumble. Gourmand looked down at himself as through this was the first time he was noticing it as well. Little drops of blood were speckled on the sleeve of his arm and a little on his chest. 

“Oh. It’s just your brother’s blood. He tried to save you, but I stabbed him and threw him in the river.” Gourmand replied nonchalantly. Chris nodded, though he struggled to process what he had heard. As he tried to focus on what was said, it slipped from his memory like water. He could barely focus on Gourmand, inserting the needle in his arm.

He waited for the burn, and it came, but this time he immediately felt very dreamy. All the pain he had been feeling melted away. He sunk back in to the chair feeling light and airy, feeling as though he was coming apart. Chris had never been this relaxed in his life, and he wondered if he would just float away if it weren't for the ropes holding him down. 

He remembered he should be angry but he couldn't remember why. It didn’t matter now anyways. He just wanted to feel like this forever. No cares in the world.

"How do you feel now?" Gourmand asked. 

"Don't untie me. I might float away." Chris replied seriously.

"Good.” Gourmand smiled. "Well boy, I think I’ve perfected my recipe thanks to you. I think you deserve a reward.”

He untied the ropes binding Chris to the chair and helped him stand. Gourmand then mopped the damp hair off his face and peered in to his eyes. Satisfied with whatever he saw, he pat Chris on the face and smiled. Meanwhile Chris found himself leaning in to the touch. All his nerves were on fire and just having Gourmand run his fingers along his skin felt delicious. He gasped and closed his eyes.

"I think it’s time to go, Chris Kratt. You look like you want to do something you’ll regret, and I’m rather pressed for time right now. Take these." He dropped some capped syringes in his hand. Chris stared dumbly down at them. "These are your reward. If you thought you felt awful before I dosed you, I should warn you that the comedown on this drug is going to be absolutely miserable. I planned it that way so people would have to buy more to avoid feeling like shit."

Chris found he couldn’t stop staring at the syringes of yellow liquid in his hand. He could barely focus on what gourmand was saying. It felt as though the world was tilting slightly to the right. But it felt good. Things were too level before. Then the door to the trailer banged open.

“You’re just going to set him free? He’s going to go find his brother and the two of them will team up again!” Zach argued when he saw Chris unbound. Things felt like they were getting really out of hand, in the inventors opinion. He just wanted to return to his jet and fly far away from the desert. 

“It’s fine. I aimed for Martin’s heart when I stabbed him. If he doesn’t bleed out he’ll probably drown.” Gourmand explained. “You’re welcome to keep Greenie, here. He’ll just get in my way from this point forward. The drugs will keep him from being useful anyways.”

“And when he comes down?”

“It will be fine, Zach.” The chef reiterated sternly. Zach shook his head and headed for the door.

“The deer are yours to do with however you please. You can pay me later. I need to get out of here before the others descend.” 

"Very well." Gourmand nodded. "A warning though Zach, if you betray me in any way, I will kill you."

Zach grimaced and the nodded as well. Once he was gone, Gourmand turned his full attention on Chris. "Feel free to come back anytime for a refill, just know it will be a steep price." Gourmand winked and then laughed. "I’m looking forward to seeing the results of long term use, and I’m sure you won’t let me down. I’d love to keep you here with me, but I already hopefully killed your brother. I’d be a pain to have to kill the rest of your team when they inevitably show up.”

Chris laughed along with him. He didn’t know why it was so funny, but it was. He felt so good. He couldn’t wait to find Martin. Gourmand guided him to the door of the trailer and pushed him out in to the crisp morning. “I’ll see you soon, Green Grape. Try not to die in the desert.” And slammed the door.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood at the river’s edge staring in to the water, but when Chris finally looked up the trailer was gone and the sun was high in the sky. The warm wind blew along his bare arms and he shuddered. He needed to find his brother.

Chris didn’t know how long he had been stumbling aimlessly through the desert. He had no idea where he was, and it didn’t bother him one bit. Deep down he knew his body was overheating and exhausted, and that something was generally wrong, but his high kept him going. He was mesmerized by the wind blowing the sand around him and kept getting distracted.

The inevitable happened, and he eventually started to come down. It was then he realized he had no idea where he was. He found himself walking along a watercourse, but whether it was the same one where the trailer had been, or a different one, he had no idea. Chris groaned as he sat down at the edge of the stream. He felt as though he had run a marathon, and all his muscles were screaming. 

He also felt incredibly dehydrated. He leaned over and drank deeply from the water. He immediately regretted it when he fell forward on his hands and retched everything back up. He knew he had to drink since he had been sweating non-stop for as long as he could remember, but just the thought of swallowing water made him dry heave.

The desert was starting to spin and the sun was too bright. He tried to convince himself it was just exhaustion and dehydration, and not withdrawals. How could you have them from a drug you’ve only had once? His whole body was racked with increasingly intense pain. What the hell was in that drug? This seemed like withdrawal symptoms you’d get from long-term use of hard drugs, not just casual use of toad venom. 

Damn Gourmand! If he ever saw the man again he would kill him. What worried him was Gourmand had said he expected to see him again. Did he expect him to become addicted to the drugs? It was ridiculous. He didn’t need them. The more he thought about them though, the more he found himself missing the high. Chris remembered how good he felt, how sensual everything felt while he was high. He blanched remembering how close he was to throwing himself at Gourmand. Aside from that, he had to admit he enjoyed the effect of the drugs. Especially compared to how awful he felt right now.

He looked down at the syringe in his shaking hand. He felt like he was about to die, but he needed to keep going. He had to get back to Martin, he had to tell them about Gourmand. The only way to stop the awful feeling was to take another hit. Surely one more couldn’t hurt? Once he found the Tortuga, the others wold know what to do. He paused to throw up once more, then pulled his shoe off.

He held his arm out and wrapped it with his shoelace. Once he located a vein, he pulled the cap off the syringe with his teeth and shakily lowered the needle in to the vein. He could do this, he told himself. It would be okay just this once. He injected the drug in his arm and untied the lace. The high wasn’t as strong as he remembered, but the feeling of pain and fear melted away regardless. Everything was good in life again.

He forgot what he had planned to do, and instead pulled his other shoe off and dangled his feet in the water, laughing at how good the water felt on his skin.

-

Martin woke up on rocky bank. His whole body felt waterlogged and he was positive he was covered in bruises from head to toe. Digging his fingers in to the substrate, he pushed himself off the ground and hissed when he remembered his injured leg, and now the open wound in his shoulder. The shears must have come loose at some point in the water, and now the wound was freely dripping blood.

This area of the desert looked different. There were far more cliffs and rocky outcrops than before. Martin realised had no idea how far downstream he had come, but the watercourse itself was wider in this area. It worried him as a larger river meant other streams had met up, which meant he was very lost. Who knew if he had come down the main trunk, or one of the tributaries?

The sun was high in the sky now, and the only cover was some short bushes that lined the watercourse. When standing on his leg proved to be too painful, he sat back down and ran his hand through his hair.

What would Chris do? The thought of his brother brought back the memory of him tied down, screaming in agony. It made Martin feel sick again. He had to find him. The problem was that aside from being completely lost, he didn’t know that he was going to be able to walk anywhere. If he could get an idea of where he was, maybe he could form a better plan. There were no trees to climb, but he could hear bird calls.

He limped over to the bushes to find a small bird staring back at him. It was a yellow-headed blackbird, which was a creature power the brothers didn’t have yet. He did have the red-wing blackbird power though, and the two birds shared the same taxonomic family in terms of classification. He hoped they were related close enough for the power disc to work. A bird’s eye view would be helpful but he doubted he would be able to fly with his shoulder injury. Chris needed him though. At the very least he would try to get air bound to see where he was.

The transformation was agony, but it worked. His injuries followed him into bird form, but at least the bleeding had stopped. Martin flexed his wings and whimpered at the pain. He had to remind himself that Chris was worse off and that he needed to get moving. With a lot of screaming and swearing, he got himself air bound. He was thankful to find a thermal up-draft and soared in place while he looked around.

Martin’s heart dropped when he realised where he actually was. He was currently staring down at the main trunk of the Colorado River. He tried to fly upstream but his injured wing couldn’t support him. He glided to the ground and deactivated. A fresh stream of blood trickled out of his wound.

He was stranded. He had never felt so hopeless in his life. This was all his fault. If only he had made a plan, or gotten back-up, he could have helped Chris and would have never have found himself lost downstream. He owed it to his brother to get back up stream, even if it was absolute agony the whole trip.

The splints had long since fallen off his leg and were probably somewhere far downstream by now. He pulled off his under shirt and tore it in to strips. He wrapped them tightly around his leg in hopes of offering some sort of support. He did his best to dress the shoulder wound, but it was such an awkward place. It was just going to have to stay open.

He pulled his jacket back on and started to limp up stream, biting his lip against the throbbing in his leg. Like a godsend, a sudden shadow blocked out the sun, causing him to look up. It was the Tortuga. His team had somehow found him.


	5. Chapter 5

"We can't help Chris until we help you, Martin!" Aviva put a hand on Martins chest, holding him down. He had kept trying to get up and move, telling them they had to help Chris. “You’re the one with the creature powers, and you can’t use them if you’re injured. Your bones will set wrong!”

The team had gotten Martin on to the ship and immediately moved him in to the medical room. Then, like a well-oiled machine, the team dashed around grabbing supplies and got him patched up. Koki sewed his shoulder closed, while Aviva and Jimmy wrapped his swollen leg in a makeshift brace until they could get in to town for an x-ray.

“How did you find me?” Martin asked, trying to distract himself from the fact they were wasting time. He had already given them a quick run-down of the night’s terrifying events. Everyone was quiet now, probably mulling over what he said. Martin didn’t blame them for their silence, the whole thing sounded crazy to him as well. An animal poaching chef, turned animal poaching drug lord, has my brother and is using him as a lab rat. Did I mention that there are mind-controlled deer being used as drug mules?

“Your creature power suit was activated. Any time that happens, it sends me an alert and a GPS location.” Aviva explained as she cut the tape on his shoulder. Martin blushed slightly, thinking of all the times he and his brother randomly activated a power suit, and all the annoying alerts she must get because of it. “How bad is the pain, do you want any drugs?”

“No… No drugs.” He replied, thinking of Chris. Always thinking of Chris. “l’ll deal with the pain.”

“Okay, it looks like you’re all patched up. Let’s go get Chris!” Aviva smiled.

Martin directed the Tortuga to the floodplain where Gourmand was holding Chris. As they flew, he was baffled by just how far downstream he had travelled. The watercourse where the trailer sat was a smaller tributary to the main trunk, and it looked as though it had been a bumpy ride down. The others remarked that they were surprised he was even alive after going down the stream without drowning or breaking more limbs. Dumb luck, Martin had replied.

When they got there they found the trailer was gone. Martin and the rest of the team jumped out of the ship and looked around.

"It was here. I know it was..." Martin stood in the very spot where the trailer had been parked. There were a lot of tracks in the dirt, mostly hoof prints, but obvious signs that activity had indeed happened here. Jimmy bent over and picked up a destroyed green creature pod out of a rocky area, and the whole team glanced nervously at each other. It was obvious that Chris had tried and failed to contact them before Gourmand had got him. Martin clenched his fists. Just another sign that he had failed his brother.

"There are tracks leading out of the area and heading north.” Koki walked along some tire tracks. How long ago had they been made? Martin estimated that he had been thrown in to the water about 8 hours ago, so it could have been any time between then. “It looks like Gourmand assumed we would come and he high-tailed it out of here."

"I can't believe it. I was so close to rescuing Chris last night and failed. God knows where Gourmand took him..." Martin said quietly. The whole situation made him feel helpless. He had no idea where his brother was or how he was doing, and he didn’t know where to start looking. If they had left 8 hours ago, they could be in another state by now.

"It's going to be okay, MK. We'll find them and get Chris back. Then we'll free the deer." Aviva put her hand on his shoulder. He knew she was trying to make him feel better, but it made him angry. 

"You don't understand, Gourmand was torturing Chris! He was a human guinea pig and he was in agony." Martin voice cracked on the last word. He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "I can’t imagine what he is going through right now. I’m an awful big brother."

"This isn’t your fault, Martin. Let's follow the tracks and see where they lead. We'll find him, Okay?” Koki stepped in, backing up Aviva. “Jimmy can watch the GPS in the off chance that he activates his power suit.”

They boarded the Createrra and followed the tracks, but eventually lost them. The wind had blown the sand and dirt enough to cover the tread marks. It had only lead them a few kilometres northwest, which wasn’t far enough to make a guess at their destination. Martin put his head in his hands and stared at the floor. He lost them. This was all his fault, if only he hadn’t rushed in. If only he had made a plan, like Chris would have done. If only-

"Uh... Martin, your creature pod is moving, according to the GPS." Jimmy waved a handheld GPS tracker, distracting him from his thoughts. The whole team paused and looked at the small screen. Sure enough, the little GPS spot was moving, and it’s close to the area that Martin had first run in to Zach.

“It’s probably some animal. Let’s not waste the time going after it. We should follow the general direction of the tracks, maybe we could- Ouch!“ Martin started before getting slapped in the arm by Aviva.

“That’s expensive technology, Martin Kratt! We need to go get it.” She put one hand on her hip, and the other pointed at him menacingly. “I don’t have enough time to program new ones while we’re on a chase!”

“Fine, but let’s be quick.” He sulked, rubbing his arm.

-

They drove through an open expanse of dirt and cactuses. Because the area was so desolate, he was able to spy his creature pod was laying a few metres away from the landing site as soon as they stopped. Whatever had carried his creature pod was long gone. Martin hobbled out of the vehicle and started walking over to it. While he moved, he kept an eye out for whatever had moved it. It was possibly long gone now, as it had taken them at least 20 minutes to get there.

Martin grumbled about what a waste of time this was, and bent down to grab the pod. That’s when he noticed shoe prints in the dirt. He lifted his own shoe and looked at the soles. His spirits raised when he realized the shoe prints matched. He and Chris wore the same type of shoe, and he knew for a fact that he himself hadn’t come through here last night.

If it was Chris that had found and carried the creature pod, why hadn’t he called them for help? And why had he dropped it in the middle of nowhere?

It didn’t matter. Chris had gotten free! He limped back to the Createrra and told everyone the news. The prints were faint, and you really had to squint to see them, so the team had to drive slowly. More than once they had to stop and get out, trying to pick up the trail again.

Eventually, the prints ended, but they knew he had to be somewhere nearby. They all jumped out and took a different direction. Martin found himself hop-running, glancing in all directions, desperate for anything green. It was getting increasingly hard, especially once the cacti started to become more frequent. He thought he had seen his brother twice now in a two very human-shaped cactuses.

Martin finally found a human Chris aimlessly wandering through a grove of cactus just 10 minutes west of where the tracks had ended. It didn't seem like his brother was worried or scared to be lost in the middle of the desert by himself. If anything, Chris seemed genuinely fascinated by the cactuses growing around him. Martin couldn't begin to describe the feeling of relief he had at seeing his brother 'safe'. He even smiled a little, that Chris could be lost and in danger, but still find joy in discovering flora and fauna.

The smile wore off as he got closer to Chris. He noticed how glazed his eyes were and how slowly he was reacting. Chris was still high, Martin realized with a start.

"Chris?" he started hesitantly. There was no way to tell what Gourmand had given him. He didn’t look like he was in any pain, so it had to be something different than last night. Neither of the brothers had much experience with recreational drugs, so he wasn’t sure how his brother would be in this state, on whatever mystery drug he had been given.

"Martin." Chris sounded relieved as he turned to him and smiled. Relief washed through Martin. Everything seemed alright so far. Martin pulled him in to a tight hug, running one hand along the back of his brother’s head, letting his fingers thread through the dark brown hair. Chris nuzzled closer into the embrace, until there was no space left between their bodies. "I'm so sorry, Chris. I'm so sorry. Gourmand will pay, I swear."

When Chris groaned, he let go. “Are you alright? You’re not hurt?” Martin cried, touching his brother, checking for injuries. Even though he meant well, he had no idea that everywhere he touched, he set Chris’ skin on fire. All he knew was that he already missed his brother’s presence, regardless of how close he still stood. 

“You’re asking me if I’m okay, but you’re covered in blood and bandages.” Chris pointed at Martins sweater. “You’re shirtless too!” he laughed as he pulled down the zipper of the blue jacket. Martin smiled along with his brother. It seemed that even though he had been tortured and was still currently high, he appeared to be playful and normal as before. If anything he was extra bubbly and absolutely at ease with the circumstances. So maybe he wasn’t as normal as Martin originally thought.

“Yeah, it was a long night… and morning too I suppose.” Martin pulled him back in for another hug. “We can talk about it later, let’s get you-“

Martin felt Chris shudder against his bare skin before he pulled him down for a kiss. It was desperate, messy, and incredibly hot. His blood rushed south and he almost forgot where he was.

“Woah… woah, Chris!” Martin reluctantly pulled back, letting go of his brother, but Chris continued to cling to his sweater and neck. “We can’t. The team is close by and… look, you’re still under the influence of some type of drug. It would be wrong.”

Chris stared up at him, looking confused. His eyes were glossy, and he didn’t seem like he was completely there mentally. Martin backpedalled on his previous observations. Chris definitely wasn’t his normal self.

“Oh. Don’t touch me at all then.” Chris let go, took a few trembling breaths and stepped back. Martin tried not to be hurt by the statement. It must have been obvious on his face because Chris added: “I’m really high and the drugs enhance senses.”

“Oh, okay.” He fidgeted, desperate to get closer to his brother. “How do you feel, do you remember anything?”

Chris seemed lost in thought… or maybe he had zoned out, Martin wasn’t sure. His brother really needed help. He quickly tapped out a message to the others on his recovered creature pod, letting them know Chris had been found, and his location. Then he turned back to Chris, who was still zoned out, staring at the ground.

“The rest of the team are on the way, they should be here soon.” He spoke, while Chris nodded absently. “So? Do you remember anything?”

-

Chris knew this was the point where he should be admitting everything. Sure he was currently high, and his thought process was a bag of cats, but the memories were hard to push away. He remembered almost every moment of agony he felt when Gourmand tested his drugs on him. How amazing he felt after the first dose of the current drug. How awful the come-down had been. How scared he was of the withdrawals…

He looked up into his brother’s concerned eyes, knowing he should tell Martin everything, but the words didn’t come. As though his body moved on its own accord, he shrugged. Chris tried to search deep down inside, why he wasn’t admitting the truth, and he came up empty handed.

“I feel okay. Things are pretty hazy right now, though. I remember Gourmand made a drug from toad venom and that Zach is distributing it. Or something about deer. I don’t remember.” Chris mumbled, staring back at the ground. “The drug is what is in my system right now. I was high when he told me he killed you, but I didn’t understand at the time.”

He could see Martin tense. Chris could tell his brother was angry at the statement. He supposed he should feel angry at the account as well, but he felt too good to bother dwelling on it. Martin was obviously alive, so it didn’t matter anymore.

“He tried. He and Zach both tried. I had found you… and then I rushed in without thinking. They attacked me, and I thought for sure I would die as well. Luckily the team managed to find me.” As Martin admitted to trying to rescue him, seeing all the injuries he had sustained was sobering. His brother almost died trying to rescue him. Chris felt guilty, knowing he was withholding information. He wouldn’t lie to his brother, he told himself, so it would be best to leave things unsaid.

But what was his plan now, to continue doing drugs behind his back? It was the best feeling in the world, as far as he was concerned. Why should he feel guilty about feeling good? He wasn’t hurting anyone.

“It’s all good now. You and I are back together and that’s all that matters, right?” Martin put his hand on Chris’ shoulder, before flinching away. Chris had to close his eyes and compose himself. He wanted nothing more than to rip each other’s clothing off and fuck right there in the desert. It felt like his lust was making his high more intense and he loved it. He couldn’t wait to get his brother alone.

They could see the Createrra in the distance now, heading their way. Martin had caught him up on his half of the adventure at this point. Just as the team pulled up, he turned and give him a sly smile and a wink before stating “Oh, and I’m pretty sure I won the bet, by the way.” Chris could feel the blush creep along his cheeks. Martin stared down at him, biting his lip, barely containing a grin.

To Chris’ dismay the whole team hugged him when they finally reached them. Thankfully Martin didn’t say anything, but Chris could tell he was anxious. The friction caused a stimulation overload, and he had to push them off. 

“Sorry… I-uh…” He tried to explain but Aviva smiled abashedly. “Sorry Chris, we weren’t thinking that you might be hurt. We’re just so happy to have you back with us!”

“He’s okay, or at least he’ll be okay. Right, Bro?” Chris nodded at his brother absentmindedly, his thoughts already taking him away on a different train. He wanted to laugh at how worried everyone was about him, and not his wounded brother. Chris believed he was going to be better than okay, especially if he could keep feeling this way forever. When he came back to the conversation, the team was discussing what to do about Gourmand. He realized Martin was staring at him, with a concerned look on his face. Chris then realized he was smiling like an idiot. His brother probably thought he had gone mad.

As they rode back to the Tortuga, Chris sat in the back with Koki and Jimmy. The two of them bandaged up a couple scrapes he had apparently received during his random stumbling in the desert. As he laid back, he felt like he finally understood why dogs liked hanging their head out windows. The breeze was amazing.

-

“Chris is still high, if you couldn’t tell.” Martin quietly admitted to Aviva, as he drove the Createrra. He kept looking back at Chris, who looked so damn content about the wind blowing his hair around. Aviva looked back and smiled when she saw him.

“Something seemed off for sure.” She agreed. “But at least he seems happy. Not in pain or anything, which is a good sign.”

“It’s been hours though… shouldn’t it have worn off by now?” He wondered out loud.

“I’m not sure, MK. Who knows what Gourmand gave him? When we get back I’ll take a blood sample and see if we can see anything.” She turned forward again. Martin couldn’t stop watching his brother though. He would feel better once it had worn off and Chris was back to normal.


	6. Chapter 6

Two weeks had passed since Martin and the team had found Chris in the desert. There had been no sign of either of the villains, nor any of the captured deer. After all that had happened, they all decided to take a little down time and keep their ears to the ground. The brothers both needed time to heal in their own ways.

They went in to town to get Martin checked out at a hospital. It turned out that he had an oblique fracture on the tibia bone, but it was stable. He would unfortunately have to wear a cast for a few months, but he at least managed to convince the doctor to give him a removable cast. The team was unsure of what it would mean for creature adventuring. Martin argued that it would be fine, since the fracture was stable, but Aviva confiscated his suit regardless. She would only allow him to use it in an emergency. They hoped they wouldn’t have the need to give it back to him any time soon.

Aviva had taken a vial of Chris’ blood, but was unable to detect much outside the venom pumping through his veins. Part of Chris was disappointed that she couldn’t discover anything about the drug. The other half was relieved. 

Chris spent most of his time sleeping when he wasn’t awake getting high. He had tried using his creature power suit only once during this time so Aviva could test the hovering strength on their hummingbird power. Because Martin was still healing and no longer in possession of his power suit, Chris was automatically volunteered. Due to the rapid heart rate of the bird, the drugs seemed to burn more quickly through his system. It felt as though he was having a panic attack. Afterwards he was absolutely wiped due to the energy required to stay in flight. He feigned sick and went back to his room to lay down. 

Chris decided to hang up his creature power suit for a while. He wondered if he would ever feel okay to use his creature powers again. The thought made him sad, but between the two options, he decided he liked getting high better than creature adventuring.

The more often he did the drug, the less high he felt. It was as though his body was quickly building an immunity to it. It was a big part of how he was able to hide it from the crew. He was getting better at acting normal when he was out of his mind. At this rate, however, he was going to have to start using a higher dose. Originally the high had lasted him 8 hours, but now it seemed like less and less.

Chris knew he should stop, but not even the love for his brother could help him when the withdrawals came. He had honestly tried to give them up after that day. After puking his guts in the bathroom for a few hours didn’t heal alleviate the nausea, he’d lie in bed awake all night feeling like shit, even though he was exhausted. The pain in his joints and muscles hurt so much he couldn’t get comfortable.

After he finally gave in and administered a dose to himself, he could feel himself relax as all the withdrawal symptoms faded away. Martin had checked in on him that night and commended him for doing so well after having strange substances pumped through his body. Chris had apparently hid the earlier symptoms well. Either way he felt even guiltier to the extent of taking a second dose just to stop thinking about it.

After days of lying to everyone and being a secret addict, he could feel a touch of depression in his high now. He still got the carefree feeling of coming undone, but there was a hint of self-loathing and sadness mixed in as well. His sober self knew that he was walking a dark, dangerous path and needed to stop, but whenever he felt that way he would just get high and forget.

The worst part was that Martin had stopped spending time with him on a personal level. They hadn’t shared a bed since he had returned to the Tortuga. Maybe it was because everyone was constantly around the headquarters during the down time, but it made Chris increasingly paranoid and self-conscious. He could swear that Martin was watching him more often. Or not. There was one night Martin stayed up late playing a card game with Aviva, the two of them laughing and smiling at each other. That same night Chris had taken enough drugs to keep the ugly thoughts and sadness away, but he had ended up sleeping most of the following day away in the process.

Currently he was lying in bed thinking. He was almost out of the drugs Gourmand gave him as a ‘reward’. He had been rationing them so far, except for the days where he really needed them. He didn't want to feel the withdrawals ever again, as well as he found he really enjoyed the high. It was as though someone had wrapped him in a warm blanket, where all his worries were gone. He couldn't remember what being normal felt anymore. What was he going to do when he was out? 

When he looked at the clock and realized he had been lying in bed all day, he finally dragged himself out. He didn’t even bother to get dressed. He just pulled his green sweater over top his pyjamas and wandered out. He found the team gathered in front of the tv, watching the evening national newscast. 

"A new street drug has been linked to a handful of lethal overdoses across the south western United States, but no one knows exactly what's in it or where it's coming from.

The drug, a mix of opioids and tryptamine, can kill in very small doses. It's injectable, and is slightly yellow in colour. 

The strangest part of the new reports are that the drugs are being spread by deer."

Martin turned off the tv and turned to the team. They all looked at each other before looking over at Chris. In his haze, he couldn't remember how he should be acting. Surprised? Scared?

The story was pretty scary, he supposed. This was the first official news they had gotten regarding Gourmands drug. It hadn’t even been out for more than two weeks and people were already dying because of the drug? Was he going to die because of it? Scared. He should probably act scared. That being said, the deer part was pretty funny. Should he laugh?

"Hey bro, are you doing okay?" Martin stepped over to him. His brother looked at him warily. Maybe he was taking too long to react. Instead, he slowly nodded. "Uh... yeah."

"Listen," Martin pulled him aside. "I'm sure it's been tough for you to know that the drug that was tested on you is now on the streets killing people... if you need to talk, I'm here for you."

Chris had to clench his teeth as his brother put his hand on his shoulder. He was always hypersensitive now. It made it increasingly hard to sleep when just the touch of the blankets sent him over the edge. He was desperate for Martin to touch him, but it felt wrong to ask him, especially when he had been going out of his way to avoid him. Instead Chris licked his lips and nodded, pulling away. Martin tilted his head slightly, peering in to Chris’ eyes. He looked a little concerned and Chris found that it ruffled his feathers. He turned away and joined the others at the table.

"This is awful." Aviva started, pulling the brothers back in to the meeting. "We need to find a way to stop Gourmand before more people die. I wish we could get a sample of the drug to test it in the laboratory."

"We also need to free the animals. We can't forget about the deer or the toads." Martin added, joining the rest of the crew. He kept glancing over at Chris, but Chris stared down at the table instead. The rest of the team spoke about different ideas of how they could stop Gourmand, while he sat there tracing a groove in the table. 

"We should find Zach." Chris blurted out. The whole team stopped and looked at him. "He programmed the deer. He probably knows how to deactivate them. That's one part of the problem fixed."

"It sounds like a good idea, but we have no idea where to find him." Koki sighed. “I suppose we don’t know where to find anyone though.”

"We could try the Wild Kratts Kids? Send out a bulletin that we're looking for him or any suspicious activity." Martin tapped the table, which immediately drew Chris’ attention. He missed whatever the team replied to Martin’s suggestion, as he focused on the steady tapping sound. It sounded nice. He wasn’t sure what the table was made of but it resonated the sound beautifully.

Suddenly all the sound stopped. The others were getting up from the table, presumably off to do whatever they had decided to do while he wasn’t listening. He looked up from his brother’s hand and in to his eyes.

“Can we talk?” Martin asked. “Maybe in your room?” 

Chris’ heart stuttered. Martin wanted to be alone in a room? His bedroom? He had imagined how his brother’s hands would feel over his body in his current state, and it sounded like maybe he was going to get his wish. Martin always told him how expressive he was, and that he couldn’t keep a secret when he was excited. Chris didn’t agree, but regardless, made sure his face was neutral and simply nodded, leading them to his room.

Chris went and sat on the bed, while Martin closed the door behind him. Chris’ breath hitched as his brother approached him and sat on the bed next to him. Martin then placed his hand on Chris’ and rubbed the skin with his thumb. Again Chris had to resort to clenching his teeth to make sure he didn’t groan.

“Chris, you seem like you’ve been off lately.” Martin started. Oh, thought Chris. This wasn’t going the way he expected. “Really off, in fact. I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Martin. I’ve never felt better.” Chris admitted. He turned his hand over and laced his fingers through Martins. 

“Are you sure? You sleep all the time, and you’ve been really distracted. It’s just that your reactions just remind me…” Martin started but hesitated. “Just, promise me you’re okay and you’ll talk to me if you need to?”

“Yeah, I promise.” He mumbled as he leaned forward. When Martin didn’t stop him, he placed his lips hesitantly on his brothers. Chris pushed even further when he heard him sigh. The next thing either of them knew, Chris had pushed Martin down and was now straddling him. Martin placed his hands on Chris’ hips, breathing heavily. Chris leaned over, propping himself up with an elbow, while his other hand snaked to the base of Martins skull, tilting it back, and devoured his mouth. They were locked in an intense kiss, when there was a knock at the door.

“Yeah?” Chris called, his voice husky and breathless. Martin pushed him off, and stood up, fixing his hair.

“Are you guys done talking? One of the Wild Kratts Kids already got back to us!” Avivas voice called form the other side of the door.

“Great, let’s have a look.” Martin smiled at her as he opened the door, and she grinned back. Chris tried not to over-analyze the scene in front of him. He also tried not to be hurt over the fact his brother had just pushed him off and left the room without saying anything. All he got was a quick over the shoulder glance from Martin.

Chris was left, flustered on the bed. He ran a hand through his hair, only to groan at the sensation. Oh, right. His mind was feeling a little clearer, which meant he was coming down. He only had half a syringe left. He pulled his side table drawer open and looked at it. It looked out of place sitting there next to his notebook, a flashlight, some lube and an extra charging cable. 

Maybe he should give it to Aviva? She said she wanted a sample and he could finally get clean. He could already feel the headache forming though. He was also feeling rather petty towards his brother at the moment, so he uncapped and shot it instead. As Chris left his room, he tried not to feel concerned when the high didn’t hit him immediately. Half a syringe wasn’t going to cut it. He needed to get more. Zach would have more of the drug, or know how to find the deer.


	7. Chapter 7

Martin watched Chris stumble out of his room, looking both agitated and more spaced out then he had been moments ago. He understood the agitation, with how Martin had left him there. It had been a mistake, giving in to his urges like that. Chris wasn’t well, it was obvious. It was as though he had never come down from whatever high Gourmand put him on.

He could see the lust in his brother’s eyes when they made even the faintest contact. It reminded him of that day he found Chris in the desert, and how desperate he had been to touch. Chris’ constant reactions drove Martin insane with desire, but he knew he shouldn’t take advantage. Chris didn’t seem like he was in his right mind. He spent a lot of time in his room sleeping, and he just didn’t seem interested in anything anymore, especially creature adventuring. If that wasn’t a red flag, he didn’t know what was.

Martin didn’t know how much longer he could take it. It was weird being around Chris, so he avoided it. It felt as though an alien had abducted Chris and was living in his place. For a moment in his brothers room things with Chris felt slightly normal, but now, as the younger Kratt approached the table, things felt wrong. It was Chris’ idea to track Zach, but now that it was happening he didn’t care to help plan the excursion. His brother was acting bipolar and Martin didn’t know what to do about it. 

“Primrose, a Wild Kratts Kid from the Haida Gwaii Islands, also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, reached out to us. She said she heard a rumour from some hikers that there was a black jet parked in the Gwaii Haanas National Park backcountry.” Aviva caught Chris up. Martin watched his brother’s reaction. The two of them loved Alaska, and would go any chance they got. Haida Gwaii was a dream vacation spot for the two of them. Remote wilderness, wildlife-rich, and full of heritage sites, it was so similar and yet completely different from Alaska.

Chris seemed surprised and gave his brother a small smile. Martin wasn’t sure what reaction he had been expecting, but he was relieved.

“We’re finally going to go to the island! I only wish it were under better circumstances.” Martin tried joking with Chris to test the waters.

“We’ll have to remember to thank him when we see him.” Chris muttered, suddenly broody again. Martin swore he could feel the whiplash from the sudden mood change. He wouldn’t hold it against Chris though, he supposed he would be angry if he had to face someone that had helped torture him.

“Jimmy is getting the Tortuga ready for take-off. We want to get there as soon as possible in case he finds out we’re coming and disappears again.” Aviva informed them, smoothing over the awkward moment. “We should be there in a couple hours, so you two better get prepared.”

-

The Tortuga landed on the beach, since most of Gwaii Haanas National Park was covered in dense hemlock and cedar forests. The brothers were armed with their creature power suits and some samples of various animal DNA they might need on their mission. They stepped out on to the rocky beach and took a moment to take in the beauty of the unspoiled nature around them. This archipelago was so similar to Alaska, which was one of the brother’s favourite places to go creature adventuring.

Martin glanced at his brother, who already had a pink tinge to his face from the cold but looked genuinely happy. It was as though his brother had come back from whatever dark place he had been in the last few weeks. Chris caught him staring and gave him a small smile. 

“You ready?” Martin grinned, holding up a peregrine falcon feather. He was so excited to get back out there. He wanted to prove to Chris and himself that things were back to normal. Chris gave a hesitant nod, so he gave him a reassuring smile. The two activated their power suits and took off in to the sky. 

They were going to fly above the canopy, looking for Zach’s jet. Martin secretly hoped it would take some time. It had been so long since he flew, and there was something great about flying in the crisp ocean air. The transformation wasn’t as painful as he thought it would be either. His shoulder was almost completely healed, and the fracture didn’t seem to bother him too much as long as he was careful how he held his leg in flight. He stretched his wings and played with the wind currents, tilting back and forth, climbing high before swooping down. This was amazing.

Chris, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable and stiff. He stared ahead and seemed pained. Martin’s spirits dampened and he dropped in next to his brother. It wasn’t long before his brother gave up, and roosted on one of the tall trees. Martin frowned and followed him down.

-

Chris felt like shit. He had already been starting to feel the effects of withdrawals before he transformed. He had no real symptoms yet, but it was as though his body knew what was about to happen to it. Now, in falcon form, he had to expend energy he didn’t really have. The exercise was causing his blood to pump faster, which was only speeding up the detox of whatever remaining drug in his system. Not only that, but the wind in his feathers was lighting up his nerve endings. He was surprised he didn’t just spontaneously combust mid-flight from over stimulation.

He found he had to perch on a tree branch to catch his breath. Chris felt as though the peregrine stamina hadn’t transferred over in the transformation. Martin landed next to him, looking concerned.

“Is everything alright?” He questioned, studying Chris’ face. 

“Yeah, hahaha… It’s been a while since I’ve been a falcon. I think I’m just rusty.” Chris lied. Martin seemed to accept it though. He nudged Chris with his wing and laughed.

“Rusty? More like out of shape.” His brother teased. “Remember the time we challenged each other to the fastest animal race? Maybe Team Fast Feet should hand back their medal. Team Predator should have been the winners.”

Chris felt like he was going to die, but he couldn’t let Martin win another challenge after the toad debacle. His brother would never let him live it down. He jumped off the branch in to a dive to pick up speed, yelling: “You’ll have to catch me first! Double or nothing!”

-

The brothers found the black jet just in time, at least in Chris' opinion. It was parked in the middle of a wetland, of all places, and looked as though it had been there for at least a week or two.

The two touched down at the same time, thankfully. Martin gave him a huge grin, as though he knew what his brother was thinking.

"What do you suppose Zach is doing all the way out here?" Martin asked the question the whole team had been wondering, as the two of them looked at the jet.

"Hiding, like the little rat he is." Chris replied as he deactivated his suit. Martin gave him a surprised look but didn't reply. At the moment, the withdrawal symptoms had started to really take hold, and all fun aside, he just didn't care what his brother thought at the moment. He was getting a splitting headache, and the body pain was getting worse. His only goal was to find more drugs before it got too bad. Challenging his brother had been an awful idea.

The doors to the jet were sealed closed, so the brothers were going to have to find another way in. Martin came up with the idea that they could become insects and climb in through the intake vents. Chris' whole body already ached, and he gritted his teeth as the power suit caused bone and muscle to shift. The upside was that an insect’s circulatory system was an open one, meaning the blood wasn't confined to veins and arteries. Instead it flowed freely within body cavities where it made direct contact with all internal tissues and organs. Whatever minuscule amount of drug was still in his system now had direct contact with his organs and brought him back to the edge of withdrawals. It wasn't much, and wouldn't last long, but in the meantime it was heaven sent. He couldn't stop the sigh of relief, which earned him another bemused look from his brother.

-

Martin and Chris scuttled along the vents, looking for an opening. They didn't really know what they were looking for, but Martin trusted his dumb luck to find the way. The first grate they came to led them right into the flight deck, and he smiled knowingly at his brother, who had argued it could take forever to find the right room.

They could see Zach below, tinkering on some pieces of machinery which were most likely a new invention, ready to harass some animals and annoy the brothers. There were no Zachbots around, surprisingly, but Martin supposed it would be mentally exhausting hanging around the inept robots all the time. He nodded to his brother, and the two of them jumped down from the grate, deactivating mid-air.

"Ugh, what are you Wild Rats doing here?" Zach groaned. He didn’t even seem surprised that two humans had just dropped from the ceiling. He must have expected that at some point the brothers would come for revenge or information. Lucky for him, it was just for information. “In fact, I don’t care. Get out!”

"You must know what we're here for, Zach." Martin crossed his arms. "You need to free those deer and tell us where Gourmand is before more people die."

Zach glowered at Martin and wouldn't even look at Chris, as though he felt remorse for whatever part he played in Gourmands drug fiasco. Meanwhile Chris seemed agitated, like he wanted Zach’s attention. Martin couldn't blame him, he must have wanted some sort of revenge or closure. Either way, the tension in the room was thick.

"Listen, I don't know where he is, and if I did I wouldn’t tell you!" Zach answered, quickly glancing in Chris' direction. "He's probably laying low. He's a wanted man right now. More so than usual, I mean."

"The mule deer then. You need to tell us how to release them." Martin refused to leave empty handed. He scanned the room for information and to ensure this wasn’t an elaborate trap.

"Or what? Gourmand will murder me if I release the deer. What could you possibly do to me?" Zach admitted, and for the first time since the brothers entered his jet, showed true fear on his face. Ah. Zach hadn’t been hiding from them, he had been hiding from the new drug lord. Just as Martin was about to placate him, Chris jumped forward and grabbed Zach by the shirt.

"We'll hand you over to the authorities and you can rot in a jail cell for the rest of your useless life. Don't forget that you played a pretty big hand in this whole thing too." He gave the pale man a hard shake to make his point.

"Chris-" Martin started but his brother was on a tirade, and cut him off.

"No Martin, he would have killed you with those deer if it wasn't for Gourmand distracting him! He then sat by while Gourmand tested toxic substances on me! Now he feels remorse? Well too fucking bad. He deserves to pay for his part. Do you really think he should walk free?" Chris yelled, finally releasing Zach with a shove. 

Martin had never seen this side of his brother before. Everything he said was true, but the loathing in his voice and the dark look on his face really threw Martin, not even mentioning the violence. It was so sudden and unexpected too, like someone had flipped a switch. Once again he had the feeling of whiplash.

"Set the goddamn deer free." Chris said slowly in a low, threatening voice.

Zach was pale, he hadn't been expecting an outburst either. He seemed afraid of Chris, and backed away a few steps. "Alright, alright! I didn't program a kill-order on the programming, but I'm sure Aviva could whip something up for you. Just take the information you need." 

"Give us one of the helmets as well. It will probably help Aviva reprogram them faster." Martin added. Zach brought him to the computer and booted up the files for him. As Martin downloaded the programming on to flash drive, Chris followed Zach to the storage. Once they were alone, Chris shoved Zach hard against the wall and held him there.

"Where is Gourmand? I know you know." Chris demanded in a low voice.

"Of course I know where he is. I've been keeping tabs on him to ensure he doesn't sneak up on me." Zach scowled. "I wasn't joking when I said he would murder me."

"Well? Where is he then?"

"He's in Florida, the last I heard. He wants to be as far away from the fall-out from the drugs. Also there was something about a new source of toxic substances, but I’m not sure what they are."

Chris knew it was too far away, he would never make it in time. He closed his eyes and tried to rein his frustration in. It was hard when his hands were shaking and he really felt like throwing up. "Do you have any more of the drug on you?"

"What? Why? You mean to tell me you're still using it? Huh. Gourmand wasn't lying when he said you'd get addicted. You're pathetic." Zach sneered. "You realize that shit will kill you?"

"What does it matter if it’s you doing the deed, or the drug?" Chris finally stepped back and dropped his hands, a hollow look on his face. "Just hand them over, alright? And not a word to my brother."

When Zach raised his eyebrows at him he added: "I won’t tell him where you are, and I'll make sure you don't go to jail for any of this, alright?"

"Fine... But there is still the chance Gourmand will kill me if he finds me, you realize." As Zach dug through a lockbox and handed over a fistful of filled syringes. "He'll be especially pissed about this. He told me that he wanted you to come to him for refills. He’s a dangerous man, okay? Listen, I don't like you, Green Guy. I'm more than happy to see you out of the picture but... but not this way. Don't be an idiot, alright? And stay away from Gourmand." He said before he turned back to the main room.

Chris stayed behind, uncapping a syringe and immediately dosing himself. To his dismay, he could barely feel the high. If anything, the withdrawals went away and he felt somewhat normal. He wondered if he should experiment with taking a second syringe, but now wasn’t the time. He grabbed a helmet off the shelf and joined his brother in the main room.

“You got the helmet? Good, I have the info here.” Martin held up a tiny red flash drive. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Good luck Wild Rats. You’ll need it.” Zach called out to them as they left. Chris was pretty sure that the comment was directed at him, but he just kept walking.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as they got back to the Tortuga, Aviva immediately started working on the programming, while Koki started to pull apart the helmet to figure out the mechanics. The brothers were left waiting around. Martin decided to keep himself occupied by loading any remaining creature power disk data in to the vests so that they could use them whenever they needed without a disk. Which left Chris alone with nothing to do. 

He shut himself in his room and moved the syringes in to his bedside drawer. This new stash wouldn't last forever, then what would he do? It was probably a mistake to find out Gourmand's location. Chris was worried that he was going to get desperate and go to the man for more. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, especially after all he had done to him and his brother. Poor Martin was so innocent in all of this mess. He didn't deserve any of this, and Chris felt ashamed. He supposed now was as good a time as any to try out a double dose. Anything to make him stop thinking. He leaned back and slid the needle in. The effect was immediate, and he felt a little dreamier than normal. It still wasn’t the high he craved, but it was a better high than he’d had in a while, regardless. 

His skin was electric, and he found himself running his hands along his sheets, just for the sensations. Chris held back a sob, wishing his brother was here. Why was Martin avoiding him? He was so lonely. As he trailed his hand down his chest, he tried to imagine it was his brother. Martin was always so good at forcing him to relax. It was easy to get lost in his day dreams when he was high.

Martin continued to trail his hand down his brother’s stomach before hooking his fingers into the waistband of his pants. Chris squirmed as he slowly slid the article of clothing down his legs. He had missed his brother so much, he was already so hard for him. As his erection sprung free from his pants and he could feel his brother’s hand grip the top, running a thumb over the tip. Chris cried out from the sensation. All his nerve endings were so sensitive. Martin laughed and held a finger up to his lips. Grabbing the lube from the bedside table, he slicked his hand and started to move it up and down the shaft. Chris bucked, twisting the sheets in his hands. He kept a steady, almost rough pace and eventually Chris came with a stifled shout, arching his back.

He hadn’t felt this good in a long time, Chris thought to himself as he tried to calm his racing heart. "I love you, Martin." Chris sighed, but there was no reply. 

When he opened his eyes, he was alone. Chris looked at his sticky hand and sighed. He wished it had been real so badly it hurt. He had been so lonely these last few weeks he felt like he had reached a breaking point. Chris cleaned himself up and sat on the bed, burying his face in his hands.

The tears ran down his cheeks and there was nothing he could do to stop them. This was his fault. He had chosen drugs over everything early on. He had too, he had no choice, he told himself. Chris hadn’t meant to include Martin in that list, but apparently he couldn’t have both. It was too late though, there was no going back. He knew he wouldn’t give up the drugs, and that meant sacrificing his relationship with Martin. He missed his brother so much in that moment it physically hurt and he thought he might start hyperventilating. In a moment of panic, grabbed a syringe and ran outside. He suddenly felt claustrophobic and had to get out.

They were still on the island, so he found himself at the water’s edge. Chris felt so hopeless that he injected right there, not caring if anyone saw. He needed to stop thinking, and getting high was the only way he knew how. He was drowning in thoughts about how fucked up his life had become, and he was actually scared for the first time in weeks. It was only seconds after that he realized it was his third dose in under 2 hours. But suddenly it didn’t matter. He felt good. Really good. Whatever he had just been thinking about melted away.

Chris didn’t know how long he sat on the beach, fascinated with watching the waves roll in, but eventually Jimmy came out and informed him that Aviva had figured out the programming, and was working on her own script. Once the deer were free, they were going to head inland to spend the night in Prince Rupert to stock up on supplies and maybe have a celebratory dinner. Having not really listened, he simply nodded mindlessly and followed Jimmy back inside.

Once again, no one was around. Normally Chris would have felt bummed about being alone again, but at the moment it didn't seem to bother him. Unable to really focus on any real tasks, he sat at the table by himself and fiddled with a forgotten pencil. He could feel the familiar lurch of the Tortuga as it took off, and he watched the pencil roll away and on to the floor. Momentarily sad, he stared across the table at the bits and pieces of the deer helmet Koki had dismantled. Aviva was in the process of freeing the deer, which meant there would be random deer wandering around with bunk helmets on their head since there would be no one to remove them. He imagined the team would have to go on a creature adventure to removed them, and could picture his brother desperately running around trying to catch them. The thought made him laugh. 

Suddenly there was a shadow in his line of sight. Chris looked up to see Martin standing in front of him. He was so high he could barely focus on his brother’s face. Martin thrust his hand in front of Chris’ face, holding a fist full of something. Chris realized with a start it was the syringes he had gotten from Zach. His brain was processing everything so sluggishly, he just kept looking between the drugs and his brother.

Martin slammed the syringes on the table and grabbed Chris’ arm, yanking it forward. Holding the wrist with one hand, he shoved the sleeve of his green sweater up. There were a few red needle marks and a bruise forming on his forearm. Then Martin grabbed Chris' face and forced him to look up in to his. Martin looked angry. Chris had never been on the receiving end of such a loathing look from his brother ever in his life.

“Well? Care to explain what the hell is going on, Chris?” Martin released him and put his hands on his hips, trembling with anger. Chris just slumped back in to his chair and stared at the floor. It was very reminiscent of the moment Martin had found him in Gourmands trailer. “You’re high right now, aren’t you?” 

"I knew something was off since we found you, but I thought it was just trauma, or some sort of residual effect from the drugs. But to think you've been willingly using them? God Chris, how could you be so stupid?" Martin hissed at him, not giving him a chance to reply. 

“I’m addicted. Is that what you want to hear?” Chris replied quietly as he looked up at him. It was hard to force his mind to focus on the situation when he so badly wanted to give in to his high and return to being numb. “Because I’m not. I can stop any time…” Chris honestly believed he could, he just didn’t want to deal with the withdrawals and he enjoyed the high. There was nothing about the situation that made him fall under the ‘addict’ description, in his opinion. 

“Would you listen to yourself? You sound exactly like an addict, denying you have a problem. If you’re carrying this much at a time… The fact that you have ANY at all means you have a fucking problem, Chris!” Martin slammed his hand on the table, next to the syringes. Chris suddenly felt a rage build up in him that cleared some of the fog in his mind away. 

“I have a problem? Well, I wouldn’t be this way if you had fucking rescued me! You never think, Martin, and because of it, your little brother got addicted to a toxic substance that was forced on him! Because you didn’t get there on time. When I was tied down and screaming in agony, all I could think about was that my brother was going to come for me. But you didn’t.” Chris snarled. He was angry, he felt cornered, and most of all he wanted his brother to hurt after the way he had been treating him. “You didn't come Martin!"

Martin looked hurt and surprised, unsure what to say. Chris stood up, ready to leave, but his brother regained his senses and jumped in his way. 

“We need to talk about this, Chris.” He put his hands on his brother’s chest.

"It's too late. You’re a shitty brother who couldn’t even give me the time of day when I needed it the most, just because I was ‘off’. Why should it matter now?” Chris slapped Martin's hands away and then shouldered him. His brother called after him but thankfully didn't follow. Chris was locked in a rage he couldn't seem to break out of. He wanted to hurt Martin, make him pay for everything that had happened to him.... even if none of it was his fault. He had to get out of the ship but it was too late, they were already on their way in to town. Once he landed he would get out for a bit. Clear his mind and calm himself down. In the meantime, he walked to his room and, like an angsty teenager, slammed the door behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

From his room, Chris could hear the voices of his brother and the rest of the team. Their pitches ranged from concerned, to angry, to crying. Chris knew they were talking about him. Martin would have either broken the news to everyone, or they had heard the yelling. He tried to feel embarrassed or sad, but all he felt was numb. It was a welcome feeling, compared to lonely and angry.

They had landed in Prince George for the night, but he doubted there would be any celebrations tonight. Chris had to come up with a plan. He doubted they were going to just let it go and move on. He would have to wait until everyone was in bed before he left his room. He wasn’t in the mood to fight with anyone else. Martin had taken his drugs away, and his high was only going to last a few more hours. Desperately he pulled his room apart, looking for any syringes that he might have had hidden away. There were some used ones in the bottom drawer, one had a couple millimetres left, which he promptly made use of. 

He ran a shaking hand through his hair. After his rage had worn off, he found that he was still jittery with the adrenaline. Or was it from doing too much of the drug at once? He couldn’t sit still. Chris paced back and forth, biting his nails.  
Suddenly the floor lurched beneath him as the Tortuga started to move again. They had only just landed, what on earth was happening now? Confused, he listened at the door.

-

“He’s not going to be happy when he finds out what you’re planning, Martin.” Koki sighed, sitting at the table with the others. They had all heard the yelling and came to investigate. The brothers sometimes got into fights, but never this loud or intense. Then Martin had explained what he found in Chris' room, and everyone was shell shocked. Chris Kratt was hooked on Gourmands drugs? It sounded ridiculous. It wasn't possible, was it?

“He needs help, Koki.” Martin looked over at his brothers closed door. “He’d been hiding it really well, but I think it’s gotten bad. Look how much he had on him! This whole time I felt like something was wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.”

“You can’t force someone into rehab, they have to be willing to go themselves.” Aviva added. “Although, I don’t know what else we can do. What exactly did he say when you confronted him?”

“He denied having a problem. Then he turned the conversation around and blamed me for everything. I just froze up...” Martin said, pacing back and forth. “I think he was right.”

Martin had been working on the power disk inventory when he remembered that Chris had the only howler monkey disk. Aviva never got around to making a second one, but Martin would be able to load the data on to his power suit and both brothers would be able to use it when needed. He had no idea where Chris had disappeared to, so he had entered his bedroom himself.

Being the room by himself felt weird. He stared at the bed where they had laid together, kissing, not that long ago. Martin sat down on the bed and sighed, he really missed his brother. Maybe he was overreacting, Chris had been through some bad stuff, it probably wasn't his fault he was acting strange. Martin had decided right there that the two of them would really talk it out that night. Enough avoiding Chris, hoping he would snap out of it on his own. Martin smiled, feeling a little better about the situation now that he had a game plan. That was when he saw Chris’ drawer, slightly ajar, full of syringes. No way, he thought to himself as he let his smile drop. At first he felt denial, until he pulled the drawer open fully. There they sat, gleaming in the light, taunting him. He saw red, grabbing them and confronting his brother immediately.

Now Martin felt frustrated and guilty. Once again, he had rushed in to a situation without thinking it through. It was just as Chris had said; he never stopped to think about something before doing it. He didn’t know much about intervention, but he was sure that hostility towards the addict was not the correct method. No wonder Chris got angry and left. Martin couldn’t help it, though. How could Chris willingly use these drugs, especially considering how dangerous they were and how they were made? The toads and the deer suffered because of these drugs. Maybe Chris just didn’t care anymore. Martin got the distinct feeling of detachment from his brother. Gone were the days of creature adventuring and research.

Martin had a strange feeling of mourning pass over him, as though the brother he knew was dead. He had to remind himself to breath, as the sorrow flooded through him.

“Martin, this isn’t your fault. You made a mistake, we all did.” Koki reassured him, pulling him back to the present. “I mean, I noticed something was off about Chris too, but I assumed he was just dealing with the stress of what happened. I should have said, or done something.”

“Me too.” Aviva added. “We’re here for him now, though. That’s all that should matter.”

Martin nodded, but didn’t feel any better about it. He was going to have to talk to Chris directly. Maybe Chris had calmed down, and the two of them could talk. Really talk this time. He gave a small nod to the others and headed to Chris’ room. 

-

Chris stopped listening after Aviva mentioned rehab. He raked a hand through his hair, pushing down the urge to punch the wall. So, his brother was going to drop him off at a hospital against his will? No, he couldn’t let that happen. Chris didn’t believe this was a problem, he wasn’t a drug addict. He was only using it because he had to. It was the withdrawals he couldn’t take… I mean, the high was just a nice side effect. A really nice one… Chris could feel the craving start, even though he was still currently high. He had to find Gourmand and get more drugs, but Florida was a long ways away from Western Canada.

Chris had a small moment of clarity in his high… Was he really willing to go to his enemy just to get drugs? Maybe Martin was right, he should go to rehab. On the other hand, he never wanted to go into withdrawals again. The trip to Zach’s jet showed him just how bad they were getting. There was less and less time between high to withdrawals, as though he was completely skipping the come-down period all together. In fact, he could already feel his high dwindling, and he had just shot up only a few hours ago. Maybe he should wean himself off. Yeah, then he wouldn't have to suffer the full effects of the withdrawals. He just needed some more drugs to tide him over, then he would quit. He tried to convince himself that was what he was going to do. Deep down inside he knew he was nothing but a liar, and that his brother didn’t deserve him.

Oh, Martin... Chris had said some awful things to him in the heat of the moment. He didn’t want to stop getting high but he didn’t want to hurt Martin anymore. He was starting to feel like Dr. Jekyl, unable to control his emotions and keep his personalities apart any longer. Maybe it was actually for best if he left. Martin didn’t want him anyway. He wanted to drop him off at a clinic and leave him there. It would have to be now, if they were currently on their way to a rehab centre. He peeked out into the control room to find everyone gathered around, talking. He would have to sneak past everyone. 

Bracing himself against the uncomfortable sensation he felt now when he transformed, Chris pulled out a least weasel power disk and a tuft of fur, and transformed into a tiny green weasel. His little heart raced, making his anxiety jump twofold. He had to do this, he had to leave he reminded himself. Leaving his door shut, he squeezed underneath and scampered beneath the table. He had two options, leave now, or go get his drugs.

Chris knew it was a stupid risk, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to get to Florida during withdrawals, which were fast approaching. He chose to find his drugs first. His little weasel heart pounded in his chest with his decision. If he got caught, this was probably it. Martin would disown him, which he supposed would be okay, because he’d probably die shortly after from the withdrawals anyways. He laughed darkly to himself as he zig-zagged across the floor, darting under furniture. He checked Martins room first but came up empty handed. Then he ran downstairs to the lab. Aviva had said she wanted to test the compounds, so perhaps they were stored here.

He could hear the conversation coming to an end upstairs. He had to be quick. There, behind a locked cabinet of glass, sat the syringes that Martin had confiscated. He could smash the glass, but they’d hear it for sure. He deactivated and opened one of the supply drawers. There he pulled out a paperclip and unwound it. He had only seen this once before on an online video, but he had faith he could figure it out. With shaking hands, he placed the clip into the side where the lock sat on the serrated metal clip. He fiddled around a bit and managed to slide the lock almost to the end before it caught again. Cursing, Chris struggled in vain with the lock before giving up. The glass door would slide open just enough for him to weasel through, literally.

Back as a weasel, his hearing sharpened. He could hear footsteps crossing the floor above him. He knew someone was heading in the direction of his room. Judging by the repeating pattern of clunking sounds, it was probably Martin and his cast.

He wouldn’t have enough time to take everything with him, so he grabbed as many as he could before he heard the tell-tale sound of his brother running back in to the console room with the news that he was missing. Once he had ferreted them through the opening, he momentarily deactivated his suit, placed them in his pocket, and then reactivated. The magic of the suit meant that whatever he was wearing or had in his pockets transformed along with him. They’d be safe for now.

Chris managed to duck into one of the vents just as he heard the clunking footsteps come downstairs. Once outside of the Tortuga, he took a deep breath and leapt off the ship, mid-flight. In his freefall, he transformed back to human, only to transform in to a falcon seconds after. Chris thanked whatever gods were still on his side that that had worked. Martin would have been excited or impressed by that act of daredevilry, especially since Chris would have normally been against it… but it didn’t matter, he told himself, pushing the grief away. Martin was officially out of his life now. Only one thing mattered now, and it was on the other side of the country.

-

Martin walked up to his brother’s door. Now was the time to admit where they were headed. Maybe Chris would understand, and maybe even accept his fate. It would be good, he told himself. He could get clean and then come back and creature adventure again… Martin knew the last part was a pretty slim chance. He stared down at his cast, thinking about everything that had happened. After such an ordeal, would Chris be willing to go back to the way things were? And what if Chris didn’t want to get clean? He might turn to heavier drugs… although this drug sounded pretty heavy already.

Either way, Martin had had a chance to calm down, and was ready to try again with Chris. Maybe his brother had come down and would be more reasonable now. He had to understand. People were dying because of this drug. Martin couldn’t lose his brother this way. Couldn't he see how he was hurting himself and that other people were getting hurt from just being around the drugs as well? Again, Martin stared down at his cast, and ran a hand over the almost-healed shoulder scar. He would make Chris see, he had to. Martin took a deep breath and steadied himself.

“Hey Chris, can I come in?” He asked, knocking on the door. There was no answer, which didn’t surprise him. “Come on bro, we need to talk about this... I'm sorry about earlier. I'm scared and I don't want to lose you.”

After no answer again, he opened the door and peered in. The room was completely empty, and messed up. As he picked up a used needle from the floor, disappointment and anxiety threaded through him. Chris was gone. He had run away. Martin turned and sprinted for the downstairs lab, only to find the cabinet door ajar, and half the drugs gone.

“Oh Chris…”


	10. Chapter 10

Chris had made it to Florida in 3 days, mostly using creature powers, but hitch hiking when he got too tired. In those 3 days, he had flown through almost half of his stash, and was on the verge of a complete meltdown when he realized he wasn’t getting high off the drugs anymore. They were merely keeping the pain away now.

There was nothing to take his mind off the drugs either. He refused to think about his brother and the rest of the Wild Kratts. He didn’t even bother to try and enjoy the trip across country, and all the fantastic flora and fauna along the way. He had already turned his back on the animals involved in the drug process, why should he enjoy any of the other wildlife he might come in contact with? He wouldn’t harm them, but now they were only tools to get him to Gourmand quicker.

Chris hadn’t bothered to eat or sleep very much, and he could feel his body at its breaking point. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer. He had screwed up his life so badly, he felt like he had nowhere to go but further down. During the entire trip he had focused solely on how he was just a big fuck up, and deserved nothing better. Chris knew he was putting himself in a dark place mentally, but he just couldn’t stop his self-loathing.

He almost cried with relief when he finally found Gourmands trailer. It wasn’t very well hidden thankfully, and stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of the marshland. With a couple reconnaissance circles, he finally began his descent. He had to really concentrate on not crashing as he landed, having flown here from Tampa as a least tern. It was a long flight for a small bird, but he had been desperate. His muscles screamed as he deactivated his suit, and for the first time, he immediately threw up. New symptoms had developed in these past few days, and Chris tried not to dwell on them. Which was hard when he wiped his mouth and realized there was blood mixed in.

Now he found himself, hesitating at the door, debating his life choices in his head. Gourmand could very well kill him on the spot. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing, he thought darkly to himself. As though the man himself could feel Chris’ very presence, the door swung open and the chef stepped out. The two men stared at each other, before Gourmand slapped his thighs and laughed.

“Ah, my little Green Grape returns!” All Chris could do in reply is to stare back at the man, slightly offended at the reaction of the chef. Whatever he had expected, this was not it. There was still time to abort this ridiculous plan, he told himself. His feet stayed planted firmly in place. “Excuse me for pointing this out, but you look like absolute shit.” Gourmand smiled at him, as though they were old friends.

“You try crossing the country while you’re fucking high and on the run!” Chris yelled, suddenly angry. He was into his withdrawals already, not having time to stop earlier. It didn’t matter though, he told himself. He was here now, and Gourmand would make everything better. Chris shook his head at his internal monologue, he sounded ridiculous. 

“You’re still using then, I take it?” Gourmand questioned, putting and arm around Chris’ shoulder and leading him inside. The interior gave Chris a spike of anxiety as he remembered all the pain and fear he experienced the last time he was here, but he forced it down. Now wasn’t the time for a mental breakdown, especially when he had done so well staving it off for the last few days. The man looked rough as well, as though he hadn’t properly slept in a while. “I wondered when you would return for a refill. It sounds like you’ve been getting it from somewhere, or someone else, and that makes me very unhappy.”

Gourmand genuinely looked angry about it. Chris knew Zach was going to be a wanted man now, but couldn’t bring himself to worry about it. Zach was an idiot to believe Chris would ever protect him. The least he would do is not give up his location. The rest was up to the inventor.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m here now. I need you to give me something.” Chris begged. “It has to be stronger, it’s not working anymore. I-I’m afraid either the withdrawals will kill me, or I’ll do it myself.”

“Well, here is where things get a little tricky for you, boy. No one wants my drugs anymore. After the reports started pouring in about people dying on the drug, people stopped wanting to try it. Those who were already using, are either dead now or have switched to something else. I’m surprised you’re even still alive.” Gourmand explained. “And then the mule deer were freed, I’m assuming by your team. So now I have no way to distribute what I have left. So for all those reasons, I stopped making it.”

Chris thought he might hyperventilate. The withdrawals symptoms had been building exponentially since he first experienced them. He was afraid that they would drive him to suicide if he truly went through them. He wasn’t ready to face it. He grabbed Gourmand’s jacket in desperation.

“You have to give me something, anything! I gave up everything to come here. I gave up creature adventuring, the crew doesn’t trust me, and Martin won’t even touch me anymore. Please, this is the only good thing in my life right now.”

“You and your brother, huh? How interesting.” Gourmand grinned like a cat. Chris realized he had admitted too much, but he didn’t care. He was desperate. Chris was thankful when Gourmand didn’t focus on his dirty secret.

“Well, I’m working on a new drug, made from puffer fish toxin. Large doses of the toxin can be deadly, but in small amounts it is known to produce a narcotic effect.” Gourmand explained, waving an arm along his chemical set-up. Chris felt a pang of guilt, seeing a couple of hacked-up pufferfish on the counter. “Care to be my test subject again?”

“You almost killed me last time.” Chris mumbled, hugging himself… or holding himself together. He wasn’t sure anymore.

“Alright, let’s make a different deal then. I have some toad venom still. I’ll make you a strong dose, something to keep you happy until we can find you something else.” Gourmand began and Chris felt optimistic. In the back of his mind, he wondered by Gourmand would do this for him. It felt like a trap. Then Gourmand dropped the bomb. “You’ll have to sleep with me, though.”

Chris’ heart skipped a beat. Gourmand wanted to sleep with him? Had this become his life now? Fuck dealers for drugs? He must have looked like a fish out of water because Gourmand stepped forward and placed his hands on his shoulders.

“When you were first high, you were so desperate to be touched, to have me touch you. You would have fucked me then and there. I never got that image out of my head this last month. I’d love to see what kind of depraved things you would do when you’re completely out of control. This time we have all the time in the world." Gourmand reached up and tilted Chris' chin up, just like his brother always did. His other hand snaked down to his lower back and brought their hips together. "Come on, remember what it was like to be truly high? Not a damn care in the world? How amazing it felt to be touched? Imagine how good it will feel when you're being fucked."

It would be ecstasy, Chris thought, but not with Gourmand, not like this. He had come so close with Martin that one day, then things fell apart. It had been the climax to this whole story, because after that day everything seemed to go downhill. Now he was about to give himself to his enemy, a terrible person who hurt animals, tried to kill his brother and ensured that he was hooked on a terrible drug. Chris finally admitted to himself that he was addicted to the high, and afraid of the pain that would come if he didn’t. He felt completely out of options. With the latest symptom of throwing up blood, he felt like it was only a matter of time before he died anyways. Martin was right, he was nothing but a sketchy, useless addict. A waste of anyone’s time. A tear trailed down his cheek in defeat. Gourmand smiled, wiping it away before he leaned in and captured Chris’ mouth.

Gourmand had backed him against the wall at some point. There was nowhere to run as the man grinded his hips against him, and pushed his tongue inside his mouth. It was all wrong, nothing like his brother. Still, he didn’t fight back, because he had finally given up. He could no longer hold himself together and gave in to the crushing grief and hopelessness that had been threatening to overflow the last few days.

“Mmm, yeah, I think we’re going to have a good time. First let’s get you high. It will be more fun that way.” Gourmand licked his lips as he reluctantly let Chris go and turned to cook up the drug. Chris wasn’t sure what to do with himself. It wasn’t too late, he kept telling himself. Instead he slid to the floor, leaning up against the wall, staring off in to space.

Eventually Gourmand approached with a syringe full of a dark yellow-brown substance. It looked like whatever was in it was concentrated. Chris was so desperate to feel a real high again, but terrified of what he was about to do to get the high. Still he didn’t stop Gourmand as the man tied off Chris’ arm, and injected the substance. The effect was immediate. He felt euphoric, more so than he had the first time he got high. It was amazing. His whole body felt like jelly as he felt Gourmand pick him up and lay him down somewhere.

“You can pretend I’m your brother if you’d like.” Gourmand grinned at him, before climbing in between his legs and running his hands up Chris’ thighs. His touch felt electric, and Chris couldn’t hold back the gasp. Something was wrong though. Chris felt like he was having trouble breathing, only able to pull air in short gasps. He was suddenly incredibly drowsy. Gourmand frowned at him, patting his cheek. Chris blacked out, and when he woke up, Gourmand had a panicked look on his face. He had Chris’ wrist in his hand, checking his pulse.

“Chris! Listen to me, you’re overdosing, do you understand?” No, Chris didn’t understand, he was confused. Why was Gourmand freaked out? Chris felt absolutely at peace. He could barely stay awake, the whole room was spinning. He could feel his heart beating erratically but he couldn’t breathe. So tired. He was just going to close his eyes for a moment. “Don’t close your eyes, Stay with me!”

But Chris couldn’t understand what he was saying. There was darkness at the edge of his vision. He was dimly aware that something was wrong, but it was as though his grasp on consciousness was being forcibly taken away from him. Chris didn’t feel like fighting it anymore, so he gave up and closed his eyes, falling sleep.

-

The team sat around the Tortuga, feeling Chris’ sudden absence. They were still reeling from the knowledge that he had been hooked on Gourmands drugs, and then for him to run away like this… it was a big blow to moral. The worst part was that no one knew where he had gone. They spent most of the day searching for him in the area, but the fact his creature power suit was gone, meant he was probably far away by now.

Now they sat by the computer, watching for creature suit activations. It was their only way to stay in contact with him now. The last few activations had taken place here in the Tortuga, with the last one seconds after Martin had found him missing. Their last conversation swirled in Martins head. He had said some awful things to his brother, and now Chris was gone. What if he never got a chance to talk to him again? He knew he shouldn't think that way, but he couldn't help it.

“Chris just activated his suit!” Aviva proclaimed as the ding of the GPS tracker alerted them. “He’s back in the states; Seattle, Washington by the looks of it!”

“Why Seattle?” Koki wondered. Martin had no answer. It was the closest American city to Gwaii Haanas? But where would he go from there? Over the next day, the crew followed the GPS points every time Chris activated his suit. They were troubled by the fact it didn’t seem like he was stopping to sleep. Chris appeared to be a man on a mission. They did their best to follow him, but as soon as they had landed in Seattle, a GPS point went off in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. Then they had spent the day in Nebraska, waiting for another sign, which came in the evening, from just east of Nashville.

It felt like a strange game of cat and mouse, except they were constantly falling behind. Again the team found themselves waiting, this time in Tennessee, unsure of where he would end up next time. Koki questioned what would happen when Chris stopped activating his suit altogether, but no one replied. Following him across the United States was already barely a plan, but it was something. If Chris stopped activating, it meant they had officially lost him. There was no other way to track his whereabouts. They made guesses at where he could be going, as he travelled at an alarming pace, but it was all speculation. Chris was zig-zagging across the country, with no clear goal in sight.

“Where was he getting the drugs?” Jimmy wondered aloud that evening as the team sat around waiting. “Do you think he had a supplier?”

“The deer were the main vector.” Martin sighed. “Who knows where they had spread. Since they’ve been freed, who knows if they’re still carrying the drugs on them? I suppose we’ll have to track them down at some point…” Martin was gloomy with the thought of going on any kind of creature adventure without Chris.

“So Gourmand had just given him a huge handful before he set him loose? You said he had at least 20 syringes with him. If he had been using since he left Gourmand, that seems like he would have been carrying a lot this whole time!” Jimmy continued. The rest of the team sat forward, suddenly interested.

“You think he got a refill then at some point, but from where? He spent most of his time here.” Koki wondered. 

“Zach. It must have been when we went to see Zach!” Martin realized. How could he have not thought of this himself? “It was his plan to go get information from Zach, He must have known that he would be able to get a refill. In fact, he wasn’t doing so well on the way to the jet, and once inside he was so aggressive. He wasn’t himself. Then when we left it seemed like he was doing a lot better. At first I thought maybe it was elation from facing one of his tormentors, but now…. Now I don’t know.”

“Could Zach have been dealing on the side? He was in the middle of nowhere when we found him though.” Koki added in.

“It didn’t seem like he was dealing. Zach was hiding from Gourmand. You saw the TV reports, the drugs were killing people and losing popularity. I imagine Gourmand must have been angry and desperate at that point. Zach was in hiding to stay out of his path.” Martin hypothesized. “It doesn’t explain why he had the drugs though.”

“He was probably restocking the deer, since he had main control over them?” Aviva added from over at the computer. She had been watching the program like a hawk, unwilling to miss a transmission. Maybe they could catch up to him if they stayed on top. She had vowed to install real-time trackers next time she had the suits in her possession. 

“If Zach has drugs, don’t you think Chris would have gone back to him? Right now Chris is going in the wrong direction. So unless Zach moved, we have to assume he’s headed somewhere else.” Martin said as he continued pacing. His leg was sore from the exercise, but it helped clear his racing mind.

“What if he’s going to Gourmand instead?” Jimmy asked quietly.

The room fell silent again. Chris wouldn’t be so stupid to go back to Gourmand, would he? The chef would kill him. Martin knew that people on drugs got desperate for their next high, though. Was Chris really that hooked to these drugs? 

“We need to talk to Zach.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, please don't give me a hard time about the very fake drug science going on. If the brothers have magical engineering power to turn in to animals, then ANYTHING is real, okay? Alright, glad we got that out of the way. Let's make those brothers hurt, okay? OKAY!

“What do you want, Blue Boy. I don’t have time for you.” Zach said over the phone. He sounded tired and wary, for obvious reasons. Martin almost felt bad for the guy… almost.

“Where is Chris going?” Martin demanded.

“How should I know?” He replied in his usual whiney voice. “It’s not my problem if you lost him. That little jerk roughed me up in my own jet!”

“Listen, Zach. I know you’ve played some part in this whole mess. I want Chris back safe, so I’m…” Martin took a steadying breath. “I’m willing to make a deal with you.”

“Yeah? And what exactly are you going to offer me that I don’t already have?”

“I’ll make sure you’re left out of the police investigation. You have to know that Gourmand will eventually be caught and detained. He’ll name you as an accomplice and we’ll make sure you look innocent.” Martin clenched his teeth as he explained his terms. He hated to make a deal with this slimy poacher, but he was desperate and out of options at the moment. If Chris was really on his way to see Gourmand, they needed to find him before the chef did.

“Green Guy already made me that offer and I took it. You’ll need to do better than that.” Zach laughed. It took all of Martins willpower to not slam the phone down. At least Martin knew how his brother had gotten the drugs off the inventor now.

“Zach, I swear to god that when I find Gourmand, and I will, I will personally help him hunt you down!” Martin growled in to the receiver. “Now tell me everything!”

“Alright, alright, calm down, Blue Boy.” Zach said in a tone that Martin could tell he was smiling on the other end. “I don’t actually know where Gourmand is, but I can tell you the same thing I told your brother when he ‘interrogated’ me in the store room.”

“Where you gave him the drugs.” Martin ground out. He was positive this whole conversation was going to shave years off his life.

“Yes, alright? I gave him the drugs. To be honest, I didn’t want them near me anymore.” Zach finally admitted. “They reminded me of what Gourmand was doing, and had already done. There was enough for at least two weeks. Otherwise, yeah, he’d probably have run off to Gourmand. Whom the last I heard, was hanging out in Florida, somewhere in the Everglades… or the Keys. I don’t know and I don’t care.” 

“If I find out you’re lying…”

“Yes, you’ll murder me yourself, I get it.” Zach drawled. “Listen… I warned your brother to stay away from Gourmand, okay? He’s in a bad place if he’s willing to go to that dangerous man. Oh, and don't ever call me again!”

Zach hung up before Martin could say anything else. At least now they had an idea of where Chris was headed, but it didn’t make him feel any better. If anything, Zach’s warning made him feel sick to his stomach with anxiety. They had to get moving.

-

That morning they got another GPS alert that Chis had activated a creature power in Tampa, Florida. They now officially knew for a fact that Chris was going to find Gourmand. Thanks to Zach, they had already started moving in the night and were already in Georgia when they got the alert.

The trip to Florida wouldn’t take long, but the problem was going to be pinpointing Gourmands exact location. The everglades themselves were huge, clocking in at 1900 square kilometres, almost the same size as the Hawaiian island Maui. To find a tiny trailer in the wetland was going to be time consuming.

Martin tried to imagine how Chris felt, desperately searching the wetlands for Gourmand. He must have found him by now, he realized sadly. But they were so close to finding Chris now. Martin’s anger and frustration had long since dissipated, and now he just felt scared and worried. He was going to get Chris away from Gourmand and then show him how sorry he was. The fact that the only place Chris thought he could turn to was their very dangerous enemy made his stomach twist in knots. He would never abandon his brother like that ever again.

The team sat around, making final plans when Aviva walked in the room. “Well, I got a chance to analyze the drug. I don’t know the exact recipe, but there were high levels of 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin, which are found in the Colorado River Toad, but we already expected that. What I didn’t expect was to find traces of neurotoxins. It looks like Gourmand was mixing small amounts of venom in to the mix.”

“So anyone taking the drug is being slowly poisoned?” Martin paled.

“It would explain why people were dying so quickly. Without getting too in-depth, venom can cause feelings of numbness and paralysis. Mixed with the psychoactive toxins, it could mimic the effects of heroin or even MDMA; Euphoria and heightened sensations.” She continued. “There are other compounds in the mix, but those are the most dangerous substances. It might explain why he deteriorated so quickly. He’s been injecting 2 types of poisonous venom in to his system.”

Martin felt ill. His brother was the equivalent of a Heroin junkie. What was worse was that it sounded like he was burning through the drugs. It was a lot of venom to introduce into your system. Who knew what damage he was doing to himself?

“This is bad.” Jimmy proclaimed, as though anyone thought any different. “We have to find him. I’ll go see what I can do to get us there faster.”

“Listen, there is one more thing you should know.” Aviva pulled Martin aside. “This is a completely different drug. It’s made from organic poison as well as other chemical compounds, and I don’t think it’s going to be treatable like a normal drug. I guess what I’m trying to say, is the withdrawals and any cravings will be bad. Really bad. There won’t be anything we can give him to help, like you would give Narcan to someone on Heroin.”

“He’s going to have to suffer because it’s better than letting him die.” Martin stared at the floor, well aware that he was in a very difficult place. He would help his brother through the withdrawals, stay with him through rehab; He’d do whatever it took.

-

They started their search along the coastline after discussing what Gourmand could be looking for. Zach had said he was creating a new drug, and once Martin mentioned pufferfish toxin being used by dolphins, they knew where to start looking. Since he was probably still driving his trailer, that meant he would have to stay near roads. It narrowed their search considerably. 

Following the coastline clockwise, they happened along a campground at the end of a state highway. There they found a wide hiking trail branching off of the site that looked as though the low hanging branches had recently been snapped off the whole way. As expected, they found Gourmands trailer just off the hiking trail near a muddy lake.

“I’m going with you.” Aviva put her hand on Martin’s arm and he stood at the loading bay doors, ready to jump. There was nowhere to land, and they didn’t want to alert Gourmand to their arrival. “It will be better to have backup, alright? The others will stay here and monitor the situation and inform the authorities with what’s going on.”

“Are you sure? The last time I came face-to-face with Gourmand I almost died.” Martin asked, tapping his cast on the ground for emphasis. 

“If Chris is actually there, we don’t know how he’ll react to us showing up. He could be hostile, Martin. Remember how angry he was with you? Gourmand could be holding him hostage as well. We have to be prepared for the worst. You’ll need help if that’s the case.”

Martin nodded, and helped her grab some jumping gear. He didn’t know how to prepare for this, especially with so many scenarios running through his head. The main priority was getting his brother back, if Gourmand got away in the process he didn’t care. He only had one goal.

Once on the ground, the two ran towards the camper. They listened in, but only heard the chef frantically mumbling to himself. No sign of Chris. Aviva caught Martins eye and shrugged in question. Should they still go in? He gave a quick nod in reply, and moved to the entrance. If Chris wasn’t here, they could at least take down the man who caused the whole fiasco. Maybe he knew where his brother was.

Martin threw the door to the trailer open, and was not prepared for what he saw. Gourmand was in the middle of preforming CPR on his brother, who looked dead. Chris’ eyes were slightly open, and he was really pale, his lips starting to take on a blue tinge.  
As the door slammed against the wall, Gourmand looked up. There was panic in his eyes; he looked like a cornered wild animal. Martin ran forward, grabbed him by the shirt and ripped him off his brother. He refused to let Gourmand near his brother ever again. Gourmand stayed where he landed on the floor, looking between him and Chris.

Aviva leapt over the two of them and started checking Chris over. “He’s not breathing, Martin. I’ll do what I can to help him, but he’ll need to get to the hospital!”

“What did you give him!?” Martin demanded, turning on the larger man. When Gourmand didn’t answer, Martin yelled the question again.

“I heard you survived. How unfortunate. It was the same drug, but more concentrated. A high dose of venom.” Gourmand put his hand on the counter and pulled himself up. “He asked for it. He begged for it! This isn’t my fault.”

It was the wrong thing to say, because Martin saw red. “This is your entire fault! You used my brother as a lab rat, tried to kill me when I came to rescue him, and then got him hooked on these drugs.”

There was a loud gasp from behind him, as Aviva managed to resuscitate Chris. As Martin turned to look at his brother, Gourmand took advantage of the distraction, grabbed something off the counter and thrust it at him.

“Martin!” Aviva cried. She couldn’t abandon Chris to help him though. He realized too late that it was a syringe, as the needle sunk deep into the back of his shoulder. He reached behind and pulled it out, dismayed to discover it was empty.

An intense dreamy feeling passed through him. Martin stared down at the syringe in his hand. Was this how Chris had felt all those times he got high? He felt as though someone had wrapped a warm, safe blanket around him, and he felt better than he had in years. Suddenly Martin understood what was going through his brother’s head these last few weeks. He would have loved nothing more than to lie down and ride it out, but his anger and fear was keeping him somewhat grounded.

Martin realized he had sunk to his knees at some point. As he tried to stand, Gourmand threw a hard punch and knocked him to the floor. The chef then climbed on top of the older Kratt, pinning him down. Aviva cried out to Martin, but Gourmand held another loaded syringe to Martins neck. 

"Stay right where you are, girl. Keep him alive or I'll send the other brother in to an overdose as well." Gourmand threatened. 

“I’ll admit that maybe I gave your brother too concentrated of a dose, I thought he might be able to handle it by now. I do hope he doesn’t die, I’ve grown rather fond of him.” He pinned Martin to the ground, straddling his hips and holding his wrists above his head. Martin kicked and thrashed, but his strength was sapped from the drugs coursing through his system. He felt sluggish, like he was losing the will to fight against the associated euphoria. Instead Gourmand held on tighter.

Martin hissed and clenched his eyes against the sensation of Gourmand holding him down. The contact of skin on skin sent a shiver down his spine, against his will. His skin was electric, and all he could think of was how badly he wanted it to be Chris holding him down. When Martin reminded himself that it was currently Gourmand on top he felt disgusted and it helped clear his mind. Gourmand seemed to know exactly what was going through his head, and grinned.

“This is what I had hoped to do to your little brother, in fact I had him in this position not even an hour ago. We made a deal, you see. He was going to sleep with me for drugs.” Gourmand laughed in his face. “Oh, you should have seen the tears roll down his face when he gave in. Where else was he going to go, after all? He was so desperate, and it was so easy to take advantage. Especially when his brother-slash-lover rejected him so cruelly.”

Aviva's head snapped up and glanced in his direction, and Martin immediately froze. Gourmand knew? As though reading his mind, he laughed and replied: “That’s right; he told me everything. Chris was in a bad place when he came to me, and that’s exactly where I plan to keep him. Depressed and lost. If I keep him down, He’s all mine to do with however I please. I have to thank you, you see, he eventually submitted to me so beautifully. I can see that you’ve trained him well.”

In his drug muddled mind, he felt broken and hopeless. His brother had been so hurt and desperate that he went to their enemy, the man who started the whole nightmare. Martin knew that Gourmand was trying to get a rise out of him, and it was working. He cried out in anguish as he tried to throw the chef off. 

Gourmand's weight was centred on his hands, so Martin gathered his energy and kicked out his legs, bucking and twisting at the same time, causing the older man to slam against the counter. Glass stills and beakers tipped, shattering over them. As he tried to untangle himself from the carnage, he felt a hand grasp his cast and give a sharp twist. He felt the sensation of the fractured bone shift and splinter, and the accompanying pain was so unbearable, his whole body went limp in shock. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Aviva calling out to him, and Chris awake, rolling over to puke.


	12. Chapter 12

When Martin woke up again, he found himself tied to a chair, back to back with Aviva. He was really drowsy and just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Stay with me, MK." Aviva whispered. "Don't go back to sleep." Martin knew he should listen to her, but his eyelids were so heavy. It wasn’t until she added: “Chris is awake and in trouble.”, that his eyes snapped open. As his body jolted, intense pain radiated from his leg. He thought he might be sick to his stomach, but breathed through it. The drugs in his system were probably helping to numb the pain, which made him nervous to feel his leg sober.

He looked around and noticed all the glass had been cleaned up. Chris was sitting on the floor of the trailer, leaning up against the cabinets. He was awake, but he looked comatose. Then Martin noticed gourmand, working on something over the counter. There were three-on-one, they had the advantage. Chris took in a big breath, blinked a couple times, then returned to comatose. Okay, maybe two and a half… 

"How long have I been out?" Martin whispered back, slurring his speech. He tried to ignore the feeling of the ropes cutting in to his skin. They were so tight it caused his skin to over-stimulate wherever they touched, giving him the sensation of them burning in to him.

"At least 20 minutes. As soon as he knocked you out, he tied us up." Aviva quickly explained. “Chris had overdosed on whatever Gourmand had given him and still isn’t doing well, he needs to go to the hospital. I managed to get him awake and breathing, but he was barely responding. I think he’s slowly coming back though.”

Martin tested the strength of the ropes, but they were tied tight. It looked like they were sitting ducks for now. Would Gourmand use them as test subjects this time? The chef himself peered over his shoulder and looked over at Chris, before turning back to work on his recipe. Martin decided he would offer himself as a test subject if Gourmand would be willing to release Aviva and Chris… but he doubted the deal would be taken. The chef seemed as though he had developed some sort of twisted feelings for his brother.

Gourmand had genuinely looked panicked that Chris had overdosed and stopped breathing. Martin had no doubt in his mind it was just lust though, and he didn’t really care for Chris’ well being. Once the chef was done with him he would probably kill him. It didn’t look like it would take much at this point, Martin thought as he stared at his brother.

Chris’ glassy eyes were open, staring off into nothing. He looked like a corpse, and Martin knew that if they survived this ordeal, he would have nightmares of his brother in this state for the rest of his life. Gourmand broke his train of thoughts as he finished his work and turned around, unwrapping a fresh syringe. This was it, Aviva or himself were about to go through the same experience Chris had weeks ago. Test subjects against their will. 

“Gourmand, please! Leave Chris and Aviva out of this.” Martin pleaded. “Let them go and you can test whatever poison you make on me instead!”

“Oh, good morning sunshine, I didn’t hear you wake!” Gourmand smiled, flicking the needle. “I always like a little good news when I wake up. You’ll be relieved to know this isn’t for you, or her. I made a promise to your brother. I would find him a replacement drug for the toad venom. I thought we’d try some pufferfish this time." 

"If you give that to him it will kill him!" Aviva cried. "Even a small amount of that venom could kill 20 people! Not to mention he’s still feeling the effects of his overdose!"

Gourmand ignored her, knelt down in front of Chris and grabbed his arm. Chris seemed to register what was happening and tried to pull away. The chef pulled his arm back out and started to tie off his upper arm.

"No... no more, please." He quietly begged, as fresh tears trickled down his face. “This was a mistake. I don’t want to do this anymore.” He obviously had no energy, and his movements were feeble. At least now he seemed slightly less comatose and more aware of his surroundings. The adrenalin of the situation was possibly helping clear his mind, Martin guessed. It was good, maybe he would find the strength to fight back.

"Shh, it's okay my little Green Grape." Gourmand cooed, putting the syringe to the side and reached up to cup Chris’ face. He wiped the tears away using his thumbs, and placed his forehead on Chris'. "We made a deal, right? It’s too late to stop now. If you’re not ready, I suppose we could hold off on the drugs for now and start on my half of the deal."

"Get away from him!" Martin yelled hysterically, realizing what Gourmand meant, and strained at his bindings. Chris turned to look at his brother, as though noticing him for the first time, but Gourmand jerked his head back and planted a kiss right on his lips. Chris pushed against the older man, managing to turn his head, but Gourmand just continued on his neck. Martin and Aviva pulled at the ropes but they wouldn't budge.

The chef threw Chris to the ground, straddling him and then grabbed him by his hair. He forced Chris’ head back and to the side, baring his neck. He bit down on the exposed flesh, drawing blood, and causing Chris to cry out.

"I believe you owe me something for my services, and I'm going to take it in front of your friend and your brother." He spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. “I’m going to let them watch me fuck you and then kill them afterwards.”

Gourmand made eye contact with Martin as he grabbed both sides of the unzipped portion of Chris’ collar and pulled, ripping the fleece jacket apart. Martin pleaded with the chef and cried out for his younger brother, who struggled on the floor beneath the older man. It was then that Martin heard the worst sound he had ever heard in his life. The sound of Gourmand unbuckling his belt.

Aviva sobbed and turned away. Martin wrenched against the ropes and screamed in frustration to no avail. Chris struggled but was too weak to budge the large man as Martin had managed earlier. Just as the three team members started to give up hope, the trailer door burst open and SWAT team officers, dressed head to toe in black and brandishing large weapons, poured in. In a moment of anger and panic, Gourmand grabbed the discarded needle and plunged it into Chris' neck, just before one of the officers shot him in the arm. 

The sound of the gunfire was deafening, and everything moved in slow motion. Chris feebly reached for the needle before his eyes rolled back and his arms dropped to the ground. Martin couldn't tear his eyes away from his brother, who lay there, needle still in the neck, not moving anymore. Gourmand’s blood had splattered across him and stood out vividly against his pale skin. As they dragged Gourmand out of the trailer, one of the officers knelt down and checked Chris' pulse and shook her head at another officer. She was saying something but Martin couldn’t hear it. In fact everything went quiet. Not even Aviva could reach him. All he could focus on was his brother. 

There was a flurry of movement as more officers entered the small area. Martins view was blocked as someone stepped in front and started to untie them. One of them tried to ask him a question but he couldn’t understand. The officer speaking to him then turned to a colleague, and Martin could have sworn he said 'He's in shock'. Was he? He felt as though he was underwater, everything was muffled and happening in slow motion.

"Martin, he's not dead! He’s not dead!" Aviva grabbed him by the head and turned him to face her. Her words broke the spell over him. 

"But the officer, she took his pulse and shook her head…” He mumbled. Paramedics came in with a stretcher and started loading Chris on to it. “I thought…”

"The plunger on the syringe didn’t get suppressed fully. It looks like only a small amount of whatever Gourmand tried to give your brother made it through.” The officer explained for Aviva. “It looks like whatever was in the vial pushed him in to an overdose. He’s not breathing at the moment.”

“But officer, he was already overdosing! There was pufferfish toxin in that syringe!” Aviva pleaded. “Any amount could kill him!”

The paramedics gasped, and worked faster to get Chris out of the trailer. One officer put their hand on Aviva’s shoulder and led her out to be interrogated. Martin stood to follow but forgot about his leg, immediately crumpling to the floor and letting out a strangled cry. The medics were too busy with Chris, whose critical condition outweighed his, so two of the officers helped him limp out of the trailer to wait for medical attention.

While the trailer was taped up as a crime scene, outside the area swarmed with various types of enforcement officers. It seemed like unorganized chaos to his shocked mind. Martin got outside just in time to see them shoving Gourmand into the back on a vehicle. The chef sneered and mouthed ‘I’ll be back.’ 

The officers walked him to one of the cruisers while he waited for medical attention, and started to question him. Martin did his best to answer any of the questions they asked, but he was distracted, trying to look for Chris. He hadn’t seen him since he was removed from the trailer. He could hear Aviva getting the same treatment close by.

“I had given him a broad spectrum anti-venom as a last ditch effort and it had managed to resuscitate him." Aviva explained to the officers and paramedics. “That was around the time Gourmand attacked Martin Kratt and injected him with some of the drug.”  
Martin had completely forgotten he was high. The pain in his leg and the adrenaline had kept him occupied in the last hour. As soon as he thought about it, it washed over him like a gentle wave. Everything seemed to take on a fuzzy outline, and he felt drowsy. Maybe it wasn’t just that he was high, but crashing from adrenaline.

Once the questioning was done, he was allowed to join Aviva, who was sitting on the tailgate of a police truck. She looked like she was about to say something, but the remaining crew members showed up, and much hugging ensued. For the second time that night, Martin and Aviva told their half of the story, leaving out most of the lewd details. Then it was Jimmy and Koki’s turn.

"We called the authorities as soon as we landed, but they took some time getting here and getting coordinated.” Jimmy explained. “I have to admit, it was pretty cool watching the SWAT team show up and bust down the door.”

“Aside from all the other terrible stuff going on…” Koki elbowed him. 

“Right… Sorry Martin.” Jimmy apologized as he rubbed his arm. 

“We’ve already told the officers everything we know. We, uh, left a lot of Chris’ part out of the story.” Koki said quietly. Martin nodded, having done the same. They would never let Chris seem like he was an accomplice, which to be fair, he wasn’t. They just didn’t want to take any chances that because he had seeked Gourmand out with his free will, it seemed like he played any part. 

After everyone was caught up, it became a waiting game. Martin wasn’t allowed to see Chris while they worked on him in the ambulance, which he completely understood why, but it didn’t make the waiting any easier. The fact that they were still at the crime scene meant Chris wasn’t stable enough to move yet. While they waited, a paramedic removed his cast and looked at his leg. He wasn’t sure what was worse, the agony of his leg, or not knowing what was happening with his brother.

Eventually they got Chris breathing and in stable enough condition to bring him to the hospital. Martin hopped in the back of the ambulance, and sat next to his brother, gripping his hand tightly. He wasn’t a religious man, but he found himself asking whatever gods were out there that his brother would survive as they drove to the nearest hospital.


	13. Chapter 13

There was no known antidote for pufferfish toxin, so while they waited for the lab results on the formula for Gourmands drug, and the concentration of toxin included, it was a waiting game. Chris was in the middle of withdrawals for the toad venom drug, however, and was running an extremely high fever and was in a general state of agony. There was also the damage that the venom had done to him internally. His organs weren’t filtering the blood effectively, and he would be forced to endure the withdrawals longer than normal.

Eventually the lab results came back and stated that there was no pufferfish venom in the formula. Gourmand had thankfully used the wrong species that was non-toxic. The team blew a collective sigh of relief. It was another small victory, and they needed all the wins they could get.

No one knew how long the withdrawal would take, as Chris had taken the drug longer than most, and those that had, had died. The doctors guessed that Chris hadn’t died due to the initial high concentration dose Gourmand gave him in the beginning. Because he hadn’t died from the initial poisoning, his body had adapted and had built up a bit of a resistance to the venom.

The doctors had debated whether to knock Chris out and preform a rapid detox, but they were worried that his body was too weak already and it might kill him. So instead he suffered. Chris writhed in the bed, drenched in sweat and shivering. He seemed locked in a nightmare, crying out, and pleading. It was rubbing Martin raw, but he didn’t want to leave Chris’ side.

But of course Martin eventually had to go through a withdrawal of his own. The doctors told him that Gourmand had purposely mixed the formula so the come down would be so bad people would want to take more of the drug. As he experienced the withdrawal symptoms, he understood why someone as intelligent as Chris would be willing to continue using. 

As he lay in bed, suffering from chills and a fever, aching joints and muscles, and puking his guts out, all he could think of was Chris, going through the same symptoms ten-fold. It took him 4 days of absolute agony to make it through the withdrawals. Martin had seriously contemplated suicide at least twice during the event, but had stayed strong for his brother. 

At some point during his delirium, they had re-set and plaster-casted his leg. He was told he would need another x-ray and possibly surgery, but the hospital staff had to wait until he was sober. In the meantime, the cast would keep the leg stable. Martin was offered pain medication but turned it down. He was done with any type of drug for a while. Instead he used the pain to remind him of everything they had gone through, and everything Chris was still going through.

It took Chris another 3 days to finally break through the withdrawals. He was so weak from all the venom and poisons in his system they almost lost him again due to kidney failure. They had put him on hemodialysis to filter his blood, which helped pull out the remaining toxins from his system and helped cut his withdrawal time down. 

Once he was fully awake and sober, and he was caught up on everything that had happened, he had broken down in to tears. Martin was there for him, holding him tight, refusing to let him go. It would seem that while he healed internally, they would have to work on his mental health. Chris had begged to die so many times during the withdrawals, that Martin debated whether to get some psychiatric care himself.

“Chris… I’m sorry for everything I said. I had no idea until… well, until I experienced it first-hand.” Martin spoke quietly one night as he sat by his brother’s bedside. “I didn’t know! And then I almost lost you and-“

“No, Martin… This was all my fault. Everything was my fault. I didn’t mean what I said that night.” Chris’ voice hitched. A couple tears ran down his cheeks, and Martin’s heart broke. He had seen his brother cry too much in the last few weeks, and it wasn’t getting any easier to see. “I wasn’t myself. I only wanted to get high and I didn’t care about anything else… Including you.”

Martin laced his fingers through his brother’s hand, bringing it to his mouth, and peppered small kisses along his knuckles. “And I should have been there for you, and I wasn’t. We will both have regrets for the rest of our lives, Chris, but we’ll work through it together.”

When Chris finally fell asleep, Aviva joined Martin in his nightly vigil. The team came and went, but Chris didn’t like a lot of visitors right now. He was ashamed and licking his wounds, so everyone tried to give him as much space as possible. Because Martin spent all his time with Chris, the rest of the team hadn’t seen much of him either.

“I had given up on him, Martin. I thought for sure he was dead.” Aviva’s eyes watered, but she didn’t let any tears fall. She was suffering too, having gone through part of Chris’ nightmare with him. Martin felt ashamed that he hadn’t asked how she was holding up afterwards. “I administered anti-venom as a last ditch effort, and it actually worked. It pulled him out of his coma. I had already said my goodbyes mentally…”

“He’s strong. He made a mistake that any of us could have made.” Martin puffed out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. “It’s going to be a long road, but I think he’s going to be okay. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. No, but I’ll get there, just like you will too.” Aviva gave him a soft smile.

The two sat quietly together for a while, Aviva working on a Sudoku book, and Martin reading a magazine. It was oddly serene, after weeks of worry and pain. Eventually Aviva broke the silence, and it was a topic he had been dreading.

“Listen… about what Gourmand said about you and Chris…” Aviva started, testing the waters. Martin did not want to have this conversation. He and Chris had barely had this conversation. It was just something that had been happening for a long time now. It wasn’t that he was ashamed… well, maybe just a bit, but he also knew how others would feel about it. It was a hard conversation topic. 

“It’s not my place to say anything to anyone, so you can trust that your secret is safe with me.” She finished, shocking Martin. He wasn’t sure what he expected; a lecture maybe? “You guys are intelligent and obviously take good care of each other. I’m just happy if you guys are happy. Just, be careful.”

Martin nodded, and turned to look at Chris. It had been a couple weeks now, but his brother was starting to get some colour back in his complexion. Bit by bit, he healed physically, but the next few months would be the hard part. 

-

When Chris was released from the hospital, the crew of the Tortuga had left him behind, back in his Ontario home. It was Chris’ choice to temporarily stop creature adventuring to get help, but he didn’t want them to stop. They had different research grants and obligations to take care of, unless they wanted to lose their funding. Already many of the projects had been delayed or dropped because of the last few months.

The brothers had kept in constant communication, but hadn’t seen each other in a few months now. Chris was going to rehab, regular psychiatric appointments and doctor’s appointments. Chris had also laughed as he told Martin about getting a gym membership and trying to eat a vegetarian diet. “You’ll hardly recognize me.”

And it worried Martin that he was right. So much had happened to both the brothers that Martin wondered if things would ever be the same. Especially between the two of them. They never spoke about it over the phone, and Martin began to wonder if it was for the best. Break it off now so there would be no possibility of ugly or awkward situations in the future.

Finally, it was time for Chris to return home, to the Tortuga. He had really come a long way in his recovery. He was no longer as ashamed and embarrassed as he was when he first woke up in the hospital. He had learned to accept what had happened and move on. 

The team had a celebratory party that night. They had decided to take things slow, and would head to Alaska in the morning. It was both brothers favourite, and most visited, location in North America, and an easy place to start. Chris expressed how excited he was to get back in to the wild. He had spent some time in the provincial parks near his house, trying to get out, but it just wasn’t the same.

Chris was busy telling Koki a story about a foggy evening, hiking in Algonquin Provincial Park, when he heard heavy breathing, like Darth Vader. He had thought maybe he had discovered Sasquatch, only to break through the fog and come face-to-face with a large moose. She laughed hard as he explained his shocked, girly scream and quick retreat.

Martin hadn’t really had a lot of time one-on-one with Chris since he had gotten here, but he seemed almost normal. He looked healthier, if not a little more fit than before, and he laughed and joked with the whole team. It seemed that there was an unspoken rule to never mention what had happened, unless Chris decided to bring it up. Which he only did once to apologize. 

It was going to be an early start tomorrow, so the party winded down. Eventually, everyone else had gone to bed, and it was just the brothers left. The two of them stood awkwardly facing each other. Martin had wanted to smother him with hugs and kisses, but he wasn’t sure where they stood anymore. 

“Welcome back.” Martin smiled, not wanting to broach the subject. “I’ve really missed you.”

“Me too.” Chris smiled back.

“This last year was rough, on both of us. And there is no need to apologize or any of that.” Martin cut Chris off as he opened his mouth to apologize. “I just want to go back to the way things were. Go on creature adventures and just spend time with my brother and our friends.”

“Yeah, I want that too.” Chris sighed and closed the distance between them. Martin felt relief flow through him. The two held on to each other tight, speaking regret, forgiveness, and love through their touch. “Hey, your cast is gone!”

“Oh, yeah. It came off last week. I have a clean bill of health.” Martin explained, staring down at his castless leg, twisting his ankle back and forth.

“Hmm. Maybe we should take it for a spin… make sure the doctors are doing their job.” Chris said casually, though he had a wicked gleam in his eye.

“Yes, please. I believe we still have a bet to settle.” Martin laughed, following his brother in to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And as usual, I end my story with the brothers having sex... The next story will be more original... maybe... probably not.


End file.
